The Whirlwind King
by theicingandcherryontop
Summary: Ever wondered happened to Gyousou before he met Taiki? What events shaped Tai's Whirlwind King? Do you hate summaries where everything is phrased as a question and the author doesn't explain the plot? Well, then this is for you! It's basically just a series character explorations on Gyousou. Pre-canon, no pairings.
1. Ch1: First Rebellion

/**

*This is pre-canon, so most of the canon characters only come in near the end. Just bear with my OCs until then, the closer to the end the closer to the canon it is.

*Also, when Gyousou is young he may seem a little OOC. Because this is a character development story the beginning character may be a bit, well, undeveloped. But if I'm successful by the end Gyousou will be completely and totally in character (I hope).

*Also, everything in here is platonic. Spell it with me: p-l-a-t-o-n-i-c. Definition: all relationships are completely non-romantic. To make it even clearer: there are NO pairings in here. No TaikixGyousou, GyousouxRisai, RisaixTaiki, GouranxSanshi, TaikixSanshi, TaikixGouran, CanonCharacterxOC, OCxOC, or any other pairing you could possibly come up with. I can't stop you from seeing what you want to but just know that I didn't put it in there.

**/

Ch1: First Rebellion

The wind howled loudly and whipped dry flurries of snow into a young boy's face but, without even flinching as it stung his numb cheeks and crusty eyes, he continued to solemnly swing his wooden practice sword in large sweeps and let out small "HA!"s that were meant to sound ferocious. Inside his house he could hear his parents talking, though he continued on as if he couldn't, his ears pealed.

"Surely you must be mistaken, even Wagai wouldn't…"

"He did! 'Instead of my just forking it over and starving to death nice and out of sight, if the king wants his freaking tax money so badly he can get his soldiers to take it from my dead body themselves, and hopefully he'll be struck by lightning for it too' were his exact words."

His mother groaned. "That man will ruin us all. But surely… the other townsfolk…?"

His father sighed. "Wagai was… persuasive. Everyone's saying that with the way the harvest turned out we'll all die anyways..."

His mother's voice shook slightly, but had an ironclad resolve in it as she said, "Then we must leave before the snow turns red. Leaving aside what happens when the king hears of this, Gyousou…"

The boy lowered his wooden sword, and a few minutes later the only sign of that he was there were two deep plowed trails leading to the bumpy, compact ice paths running parallel to the town road.

Eventually the one making those tracks came into the sight of a house with a group of five teen boys milled on an outside woodpile laughing rowdily and pushing each other off at the slightest opportunity. One of them, surveying his triumph lying sprawled in a deep snow drift, suddenly exclaimed and pointed off into the distance. The others followed his outstretched finger to the small figure stepping gingerly on the single path leading towards the house. As the smaller boy's leg slid slightly and he wildly flailed his arms to regain his balance the boys all let out a hoot of laughter and began calling out.

"Hey Gyousou. Yo! Pipsqueak! Sure your mommy is ok what with you out of arms reach? What if you scrap your knees and she ain't there to kiss it better? Careful of the ice there, wouldn't want widdle baby to get an ouchie!"

Gyousou pulled himself to his full seven-year-old height, squared his shoulders, and held his head high. "I'm here to see Wagai. I don't need my mother's permission."

"Oh, widdle baby's a big boy now, is he?" The tallest, a giant of a seventeen-year-old, jumped from the woodpile and leaned casually against the doorframe, blocking it was his body. He meant, of course, for this to look cool and intimidating, but the effect was ruined somewhat by him slipping on the compact snow that was virtually ice, and landing on his bottom with his legs sticking like a V in the air. Nonetheless, he haughtily picked himself up and continued as if he had never fallen, ignoring the unmuffled laughter around him.

"Big enough to not fall on my butt, you mean?"

This, of course, was not the right thing to say. Tai is a harsh country with bitterly cold and long winters, and has produced a race of sturdy people with pride thicker than the snow that blankets the nation for most of the year. In particular, the people of Tai are known for their drive to not be outdone by anyone.

"Listen, you snot-nosed brat," he began, "your father is nothing but a turnip farming coward. Do you know how much problems he caused at the town meeting today? And you mother is even worse, she didn't even show up!"

"My mother was nursing the six-month-old with bronchitis three blocks down. A doctor is a busy woman, you know. Unlike some people."

"Yeah? Well, how busy is she going to be now that nobody can buy her stinking medicine? What a scam, I bet it doesn't even work."

Gyousou glowered. "It does so."

"She's just out to make money; she won't even lower her prices even though we're all starving! You think someone like that makes high quality medicine? I-don't-think-so." As a matter of fact, these accusations were unfounded. Gyousou's mother did make perfectly fine remedies, however, she also had a husband and child to provide for, especially now the crops failed and they had no other income. Also, now it was winter, getting supplies became a whole lot more expensive since it had to be brought in on dog sled. Simply not raising her prices was cutting into her family expenses. However, this boy's younger sister had been in bed for two weeks now and their parents were letting the sickness "wear itself out" and couldn't even afford painkillers for her, so his bitterness is partly justified.

"Boys!" Came a sharp rebuke from inside. A large, sturdy man with bright green hair pushed the door open, whacking the boy blocking Gyousou from entering right across the face. "Don't you have better things to do? Go practice your swordsmanship!" The boys all slouched off grumbling and shooting piercing looks at Gyousou that promised trouble the next time they found him while an adult wasn't around.

"I've been practicing my swordsmanship, Wagai. Three times a day!" Gyousou declared proudly, looking up at the green haired man with undisguised admiration.

"Is that so?" Wagai ruffled Gyousou's snow white hair and chuckled. He didn't say anything, but he thought that Gyousou was unlikely to be anything other than average no matter how much he practiced, due to his average build.

Gyousou didn't notice his hero's lack of faith in him. "Is it true that you are going to fight against paying taxes?"

"That right," Wagai showed not even the slightest bit of fear at the mention of his rebellion from the mouth of a small child – a sure sign that everyone in the surrounding area must know about it. "That king just sits up on the clouds drinking and collecting 'gems'," here Gyousou pictured a hoard of sparkling diamonds, though that wasn't the kind of 'gem' Wagai meant, "while we slave away in the fields, then he wants us to pay him from our threadbare pockets? I don't think so."

Gyousou nodded sagely as if he completely understood the implications of what Wagai said and solemnly held out his practice sword, "I'll fight for you!"

Wagai smiled indulgently, "Don't want to waste a promising youngster like you fighting for me old taxes now. Tell you what, you go from practicing 'three times a day' to eight times a day and come back in a year all strapping and strong, and I'll be sitting on my hoard of unpaid taxes with the king's men in graves at my feet, and then we'll get together and be invincible. "

"A year!" Gyousou cried in horror. A year was like a whole lifetime!

"Unless, of course, you don't think you are up to…"

"Yes, sir!" Gyousou saluted and marched out the cabin, wooden sword tucked in his belt strap.

Wagai watch him leave and chuckled. "That toy'll be covered in dust within a year."

Gyousou's parents had already packed by the time he arrived home and his mother was furious with him. Gyousou was made to get in the wagon, and they drove through the night to Zui province, to his mother's sister's house and her family. Gyousou practiced his drills every day and sulked at his exile.

"I don't see why we had to leave." Gyousou grumbled as dumped the firewood in his arms beside his father. "Wagai'll take care of those old tax hounds."

"Wagai," his mother said crisply, "is a fool. It's not just his foolhardy actions that we ran away from, it's his disturbing influence on you."

Gyousou scowled. Wagai was the strongest, bravest, most wonderful man ever. He was also the one who showed Gyousou the sword moves the Gyousou now rigorously practiced eight times a day. His parents might have fled town fearing the brand of 'insurrectionist' coming across their shoulders, but Gyousou fully intended to return in 10 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days once his training period was over.

"Gyousou, if you keep scowling your face will be stuck like that!"

"Aunty and Uncle's should stop paying taxes as well," Gyousou commented sourly. "Their tax rate just went up, right? If she had used her tax money to buy Kana mittens then she wouldn't have gotten frostb…"

"SAKU GYOUSOU, don't you DARE finish that sentence!" His mother threw his coat she was darning down and leapt to her feet, advanced on him shaking her fist, and the sewing needle it was gripping. Gyousou recoiled, alarmed. "One more word and I'll personally burn that dratted toy sword you love so much! Let me tell you something, Mister I-know-everything, if your aunt bought Kanan mittens with her tax money then somewhere else a little girl will die of hypothermia because her mother couldn't buy her a coat since the taxes increased! Why do you think the tax rate went up? It's because of the oh-so-wonderful Wagai-sama!"

Gyousou bristled. "It's because the king is a…"

His mother barked out a laugh, "The king? Forget the king. Taxes are what send you to school, boy, what feed us when an earthquake strikes, what pays for the snow plows to clear the roads. The government sets taxes to an amount that will pay for all these things, and whether or not it's a reasonable rate is beside the point. The money has to be paid, or else when Kanan slips into the ravine and her friends run screaming here for help they need to wade through a layer of snow here, and I need to wade through a layer of snow there, and by the time we wade carrying Kanan back she's already lost her whole hand! Do you know how much it costs to plow all the major roads? Burden like that are distributed to everyone, and if one town refuses to pay its share it's merely forcing its neighbours to pay for it!"

"If Wagai had forced ends to meet and paid his taxes like the rest of us, your cousin would have her mittens and more than nine fingers." This was by no means the end of this argument, nor of many others similar ones, but Gyousou's mother's words continued to haunt him late at night as six months passed.

Six months with his parents whispering in corners and shushing anyone who spoke of Wagai or the rebellion. Six months since Wagai had declared he wouldn't pay the king's taxes and convinced the others to do the same. Six months after his parents had fled town, his mother hauled him into a wagon one day and drove them all home grimly. Gyousou looked over the town he had spent his childhood, indeed his life, in and wondered at the change six months could make.

"Pass me that string, Gyousou." Gyousou obediently passed it to his mother and tried not to stare while she sewed rhythmically with a businesslike demeanor. The boy in front of him, the same one who had once blocked the door and made scathing remarks about his mother, whimpered softly even though he had been given anesthetics.

Six months ago the population had been 500 people living in warm, though simple, houses. Six months later all that was left was charred buildings and 167 survivors, including the boy nearing manhood his mother was now stitching back into one piece. Wagai wasn't one of them. Wagai was hanging in the public square at the nearest municipality, where his mother hadn't put her hand over his eyes in time to block the image.

Gyousou looked over the sight of his desolate home and solemnly vowed he'd never forget it.

/**

*I have no idea how to train to be a great swordsman, so just humour me. At the very least, 8 times a day shows how dedicated Gyousou is (I think. For all I know swordsmen train 50 times a day.)

*And… frostbite! My elementary school teachers watched all the kids like hawks and if anyone started to develop any signs of frostbite they got sent inside, and if it was below minus 20 C(-4 F) we got indoor recess. Technically if it goes below minus 55 C(-67 F) they're supposed to cancel school, but the one time it did they claimed it was only minus 54 C(-65.2 F). Figures. Also, my mom always nagged me about what the weather station said the time for developing frostbite was that day, especially if it was shorter than my walk to school. Anyhow, I've never had to deal with frostbite due to the vigilance of surrounding adults, so I'm working with vague impressions and hearsay. Anyone who knows more about frostbite, please share that knowledge so I can write a more accurate story!

*The frostbite bit is partly inspired by the clip of Taiki standing outside with his fingers, toes, and ears completely exposed while his mother and grandmother argue inside. When his grandma refuses to let him in I'm like "What a jerk!" and when his mom worries about him catching a cold I'm like "Forget a cold, he's going to get frostbite!" Even assuming it's about -5 to -10 C(23 - 14 F) he's been there, standing still and uncovered, for an hour! Plus the book says the snowflakes melt on him, so he's also wet! Sheesh, people in climates where it isn't winter half the year!

*The fahrenheit temperatures I took using google's celsuis to fahrenheit converter, since it occurred to me any Americans probably don't know what temperatures I'm talking about.

**/


	2. Ch2: Learning

Ch2: Learning

The years passed as they always do, and Gyousou's family settled in their slowly rebuilding town. His mother was no longer ostracised since she had returned to help in the aftermath, and his father turned from turnip farmer to hunter due to the salted land. Gyousou became closer to his parents, especially his father who often took him on hunting trips. Despite having to swallow the bitter pill of his childhood hero's disastrous end he continued to practice his sword fighting, and asked anyone who would to teach him new moves.

One day, when Gyousou was 11, his parents took him aside and explained that since they had accumulated a little surplus they were planning to go to the riboku and pray for another child. Thus, one September day he stood to the side of a riboku shrine fingering the engraven kirin on the wall as he watched his parents tie their bright-coloured ribbon onto an overhanging branch. Every day, on his way home from school, he walked past the riboku and watched the tiny golden fruit become bigger and bigger. The baby had been planned so that it would be ripe in May and be spared the harshness of winter during its most vulnerable months, so when April rolled around and the snow started to melt Gyousou felt anticipation fill his heart as he started mentally ticking off the days until the 8th of May, when his parents would pick the fruit.

As he did so, he naturally wondered whether he would have a little brother or little sister. It didn't really matter to him since either way he planned to teach him/her how to swing a sword and win a fist fight. A brother might be nicer, though, because recently the girls at his school seemed to have gone a bit silly and he didn't think he could handle it at home too. Why did they always seem to be nudging each other and giggling when he entered the room? It's not like any of them ever came over to talk to him, though a few braver ones headed in his direction before veering off to the side at the last minute into a gaggle of friends who all started giggling. Also, they had started applying copious amounts of goey make-up, despite the fact it kept getting in one of their eyes and making it stick for a few seconds, though strangely enough it always seemed to be just one. Yes, girls truly were strange beings, so having a brother might be best.

This point was further enforced in Gyousou's mind after an extraordinarily strange incident in which a pink note, left in his desk, with girly writing and lots of little hearts on it asked him to meet one of the sillier girls behind the school after class. At the appropriate time, not without misgivings, Gyousou went to the specified place. The girl seemed tongued-tied and flushed and just kept stammering, "I… I… I… I…" before burying her face in her hands and running away crying, "Sorry, I just can't say it!" leaving Gyousou standing bemused on the spot.

He took an extra-long time standing at the gate of the riboku shrine, fiercely wishing that his younger sibling – due in 16 days now – was not female. And that's why he saw it happen.

At first, when the earth rumbled deeply and the ground beneath his feet churned like batter under a mixing spoon, he thought '_earthquake_' and gripped the lattice-work of the shrine fence tightly. Then the sky, since that morning a pale grey most unusual for sunny Tai late spring, turned a blood red and began to churn as if it too were being mixed. The world around him spun in circles and he clung to the fence as high winds lifted his feet above his head. His fingers felt a tug, sharp and unwelcome, and then a slow pull as the fence was ripped from the ground and they were both sent hurtling into the twister. For a few moments he was flung through the air like a doll before he smacked into a tree. Wrapping his limbs around the trunk, he clung to dear life as he watched debris sail through the air, too shocked to take it in even when a golden fruit the size of a newborn flew past. He could hear the ominous creaking of the tree and felt it slowly snap in half, sending it and him once more hurtling into the extreme winds. Then, just as suddenly, it was still.

And he fell.

Gyousou wearily opened his heavy eyelids, struggling to understand why he hurt so much. He felt as if every inch of his body had been thoroughly hit with a large club by a professional torturer. He recognized the inside of his room dimly before suddenly he was being hugged and could hear his mother sobbing,

"My baby! Oh my poor baby! Thank Heaven he's awake!"

"Mom," he tried to force out with his leaden tongue, but it came out more as, "Mmmuhhhhrrrrrrggghh." After waiting a bit and taking a several deep breaths he tried again. "What happened?"

"There was a shoku," his father choked out, then cleared his throat in embarrassment. "You got tossed around and nearly died, so you'll have to take it easy for a bit. That means _no_ getting-whacked-with-sticks practice, understand?" He added sternly.

Gyousou felt like he was forgetting something vital, and then the image of a large golden fruit flying by registered.

"The ranka…?" His parents glanced at each other and his mother turned back to him. "Gyousou sweetie, we need to talk to you."

"It was pulled away, wasn't it? Mom, what happens to a ranka that get pulled away before it's ripe? Can you save the baby, or it already…?" he couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Sweetie, do you remember all those stories we told you about Hourai and Kan when you were little?" Gyousou nodded, a sneaking suspicion where this conversation was headed. "Well, those places really do exist, only they exist separately from the kingdoms. Sometimes, when a shoku hits, people from there end up here, and ranka from here end up there. So our baby, well, it's not dead but… we'll never see it. It's in Hourai now."

Gyousou looked away from his mother's tentative eyes, not trusting himself. This was exactly what he feared: the whole that-person's-not-dead-they've-gone-to-live-in-Hourai-where-the-streets-are-paved-with-gold spiel given to small children by well-meaning adults. His friend Tankei's parents had once told him that his aged pet dog had gone to live in Hourai, but he had never thought his mother would stoop to do so to him.

Trying to keep an edge from his voice, he said, "So it's dead?"

His mother misunderstood. "No sweetie, children are born differently in Hourai and Kan. There, when a baby is growing, it doesn't grow as a ranka on a riboku tree but in a woman's stomach. Our ranka just went to a mother's stomach there, and will be born to a different family. That's all."

Gyousou blinked at his mother in surprise, impressed she could come up with such a ridiculous lie on the spot. Children growing in women's stomachs? No matter how he looked at his mother, a baby would not fit in her stomach. If that were true, then the women of Hourai and Kan must all be extremely fat. Not to mention, how does the baby get _out_ of the stomach to be born? Does it pass out when the mother goes to relieve herself? Gyousou felt that would be extremely painful and something so large could not possibly come out such a small hole. Then did they have to cut the mother up to get the baby? How barbaric!

His mother continued to try to sooth him with all the things she'd heard about Hourai and Kan. The people were very wealthy, it was never winter there, the streets were filled with magic floating lights during the night, giant metal birds ferries people from place to place, people could send voices over great distances and capture a moment of time in a piece of paper to treasure for eternity. The more she said, the less he believed her.

"Oh, that's right," his father suddenly remembered. "Both the Royal En and En Taiho were born in Hourai. Since En is the wealthiest country and has the second longest standing dynasty currently, surely Hourai must be a great country as well."

Gyousou said, unable to keep the criticism for his parents' blatant lies from his voice, "A king is always chosen from the people of the nation, and kirin are always born on Mt. Hou."

His father looked at him in exasperation, "If you spent less time being whacked with sticks and more time studying, you'd already have known this. All that is required to be eligible to be selected king is that the ranka sprouts on a tree in right country. Both King En and En Taiho were carried off in their ranka like our ranka was until they were found and returned. Don't get your hopes up though, only important people like kings and kirins get a search party sent after them." Sensing the skepticism radiating off Gyousou his father picked up Gyousou's textbook and, opening to a page Gyousou guiltily remembered he was supposed to have read a week ago, read out a passage that formally stated exactly what he had just said.

When he recovered few weeks later Gyousou joined his class sitting outside in the warm May sun, happy that, at the very least, the shoku had occurred with ample time to fix all the buildings before winter began. He lazily watched the soldiers of the provincial guard doing just that – fixing the schoolhouse. He wondered if they'll show him some new sword moves.

"Saku!" Gyousou's teacher, Potan-sensei, had an uncanny ability to ferret out whose attention was wandering. "Please read where Jan left off."

Gyousou glanced over at Tankei's book, where he repositioned his thumb to a different line. Gyousou quickly looked back at his own book and started reading from there, "Among the many services the provincial taxes support are the provincial guard. The duties of the provincial guard are to arrest criminals, suppress rebellions, patrol their assigned areas, and carry out important building projects such as disaster prevention and disaster relief. Some of the…"

"Thank you, Saku." Potan-sensei interrupted. She gestured towards the builders, "It's nice to see at least some of our tax money pay off, isn't it?" The children laughed and Potan-sensei turned on one of the sillier girls who seemed to be staring avidly at something in Gyousou's general direction, though what could be so interesting he couldn't comprehend. "Please start where Saku left off."

The girl blushed and began to read, "Some of the…"

However, Gyousou was suddenly reminded of his mother's angry words from four years ago, _"The government sets taxes to an amount that will pay for all these things, and whether or not it's a reasonable rate is beside the point. That burden is distributed to everyone, and if one town refuses to pay its share it's merely forcing its neighbours to pay for it."_

Presently, the class was dismissed to go to gym and Gyousou was left alone with the teacher, since he still hadn't recovered fully from his fall. He turned to her.

"Sensei?" she turned expectantly to him. "Do you think the taxes are fair? That the tax money goes to the people, and not the king's harem?" At this point Gyousou was old enough to understand what 'gems' really meant.

Potan pursed her lips and sighed, her lined face looking worn out. "Saku, what do you know about the late king?"

"The Scholar-King, you mean? He devoted himself completely to his studies pondering obscure religious and moral themes, neglected government affairs, and was struck down by Heaven after only 13 years, right?"

"That's correct. So you do occasionally pay attention in class," the smile lines around her eyes crinkled. "Because of his neglect the ministers and provincial lords were corrupt and oppressed them people severely. The Jou provincial lord often pulled young women off the street and nobody ever saw them again. The prefectural lord of Zan enjoyed having people fight youma to the death in arenas for his entertainment, and it didn't matter to him which one died. Slavery flourished everywhere. And the king did nothing. However, taxes at that time were very low. A king who dresses in sackcloth, will only eat basic meals, and rarely leaves his study doesn't require much to live on. When His Majesty was enthroned he overthrew those corrupt officials and set the kingdom in order. However, His Majesty likes his comfort. Thus our taxes are raised. Which do you think is better?"

"Neither," Gyousou replied without hesitation. "A king should govern well _and_ not overtax his subjects. I'd kick the concubines out of the palace and all His Majesty's drinking buddies. Then I'd open the royal treasury and distribute it to my subjects."

Potan laughed, "How generous! However, a little sword swinging rascal like you might start a war. That's the problem with military kings; while they stay on the Way they're wonderful but once they lose the Way they cause huge disasters. Like that King Tai a millennia ago who invaded Mt. Hou and set fire to the Shashinboku to prevent the next kirin of Tai from being born. Or the previous king of En, who left the country heaving its death sigh five hundred years ago until the present King En took over. Or a queen of Kei who, two millennia ago, declared herself Queen of the World and invaded Kou."

"Kei really has bad luck with queens!" Gyousou exclaimed.

"Indeed. The day a decent queen of Kei appears is the day the kingdoms agree to selflessly work together. The point is, all these rulers arose from the military service and all had long, peaceful rules, except where they ruined their countries at the end. On the contrary, kings who arise from the civil service more often rule uneasily for a number of years and then slowly begin to decline."

Gyousou contemplated for a moment, "But there have been good kings who just met with unfortunate accidents and weren't struck down, right? How did they manage it if both military and civil kings are so flawed?"

Potan-sensei laughed. "A king is just a person chosen by a kirin, are they not? Maybe a person with better judgement or a better heart than most, but a flesh and blood human being nonetheless. The best thing any king can do is listen to the kirin that made them king in the first place. Kirin are not like us, they are part of Heaven born from the wishes of the nation and are so naturally compassionate they get ill near blood. If more kings listened to their kirin then less kings would be struck down by Heaven."

"I would listen to the kirin if I was king," Gyousou protested. "Sensei, do you think I could be the next king?"

"Do I have blond hair? Do I look like a kirin to you? How should I know! Hopefully, this dynasty will last long beyond your lifetime and a new king won't need to be chosen. Don't jinx it!" Looking severely at the child in front of her, Potan added, "Before you set your sights on being king, study politics! Join the civil service, no, for you it had better be the military service, and see whether or not you can handle the responsibility of authority."

* * *

/**

*"The day a decent queen of Kei appears is the day the kingdoms agree to selflessly work together." O.o Is Potan-sensei a prophet?

*I had lots of fun writing the part where Gyousou's parents tell him his baby sibling went to a woman's stomach in Hourai. Looking at it from the head of someone from the Twelve Kingdoms, our way of having babies is really weird.

*Also, those unnamed preteens girls are not platonically in love, so I lied. Oh, puberty. Don't worry, they never appear again. It just occurred to me when I was writing this that a good looking guy like Gyousou who is serious and skilled with a sword must have attracted a lot of female attention.

*Is this kind of a boring chapter, near the end at least? I felt like it had to be written though.

*Next time… Gyousou joins the army! Finally, action!

**/


	3. Ch3: The Army

Ch3: Army

When Gyousou turned of age nobody was surprised that he joined the I Provincial Army; indeed, had he taken up farming, mining, lumber jacking, or even hunting his relatives would have died of shock. For years he had spoken of nothing but turning soldier, and then officer. Many rolled their eyes, but Gyousou knew only those higher up could affect the state of the country with any significance, and felt confident he possessed the potential to go far.

Gyousou's confidence in himself was dampened a little by his mother dumping tons of medical supplies in his luggage and giving him stern lectures on behavior and recklessness. Nothing can make a man feel less like an impressive, revolutionary general than a fussy mother. Fortunately he had already thought ahead of his mother's reaction to her only child going off to 'romp up mountains poking around for brigands' and had made her bid farewell at home, where no one could bear witness to it. By the time he arrived at the recruitment camp he was not a son being told off but was every muscle a young ambitious warrior.

Basic training expanded his pre-existing knowledge and skills in wilderness survival, swordsmanship, tracking, and tactics. He studied it with a fervour the trainers commended as devotion and his groaning comrades murmured was fanatical, even obsessive. Without a doubt he was the cream of the newbies, and thus was assigned to a regiment in a dangerous region when his training period finished.

When Gyousou arrived at his post the entire regiment grumbled: green soldiers still sap-sticky from boot camp just were not assigned here. His commander warned him to expect tormenting, and Gyousou told the doubtful man (who was wording a scathing letter to the training master in his mind) that he could handle whatever was dished to him. That letter was shredded into small pieces and used as kindling after several fist fights sent men to the medical officer and Gyousou was assigned to latrine duty for a month as penitence. After that several more episodes occurred in which people needed medical assistance and Gyousou was given additional punishments, but he gained a reputation for zero tolerance for insults and wicked skill in any kind of combat. So the hazing subsided to mere isolation and warily muttered gossip.

A few of the men admired Gyousou's prickly pride, and these were assigned with him to patrol the west side of the mountain their bases was on. The west patrol had the most open terrain, little hedge growth, few caves, and only one real town, called Ancha, where everybody knew the name of everyone else and no crimes of any significance occurred. It was the perfect place to show the newbie the ropes without endangering anyone, particularly since massive gorges on either side made it virtually impossible for anything without wings to travel there from the more dangerous sides.

The north side was the steepest and was dotted with innumerable caves that harboured bandits, rebels, murderers, and even sometimes youma. Most of the regiment patrolled the north side, although the less experienced, injured, and incompetent were delegated to the east or south sides which were much more dangerous than the blissful west, though not nearly as dangerous as the inhospitable nest of villainy that was the north. One of Gyousou's comrades had been injured fighting a sanki in the north, and was glad for the relaxation the west provided. After more people grew comfortable around the no-longer-so-green icy haired man, Gyousou's healthy comrades were all moved to the north, leaving him with more recovering injured.

The commander, after a long year and a half dragged by, informed Gyousou he would move him to the east patrol on the next rotation. He had left him in that secure location for so long to absolutely ensure he didn't waste a promising youth because he wasn't adequately trained for all seasons and didn't know how to dodge in a deep snow drift, but Gyousou couldn't read minds and had chafed at the delay. It was just as Gyousou was mentally in a state of bidding peaceful Ancha farewell that he noticed it.

For weeks in the north a group of rebels lurked hidden in caves and attacked those who were patrolling, shouting demands to the government. The ever increasing casualties had partly been what prompted the commander to reassign the one able bodied person on the least dangerous side and fill the easy position with one of the injured. The west patrol was just making its last round of the day when Gyousou frowned,

"I can't see the lights from Ancha."

The others all groaned: their recovering injuries ached and all they wanted was to get back to the barracks. "Maybe a tree is blocking the view. Maybe they've already gone to bed. Come on, Saku, it's _Ancha_! Let's just go back."

After more than a year of patrolling the same area Gyousou had it memorized, and right where he was standing at this time of evening in October the town lights were visible like little gemstones sprinkles in the darkness. Except there was only the darkness.

"I'm going for a look. Who's coming?" In the end, only seven went with him. The rest opted for the warm barracks, a hot meal, and then bed. The seven who stayed all wore expressions that said 'let's get this over with and go back'.

Peering down at the blackened huddle of houses a man with his arm in a sling said, "OK, Saku, look, the town is still there. Let's go."

"There are people moving."

"Some kids sneaking out to visit their sweetheart, no doubt."

"They're not moving like that. More like they are carrying something heavy." The group sighed. Law enforcement was under the army, so if there was a robbery going on it was their duty to investigate it. Gyousou singled out a man with a sprained ankle, the one with a broken arm, and one whose left eye had been damaged by acid and was in a dubious state. "Kai, Nan, Meku! Come with me!"

Amid grumbles of 'who died and made _him_ Commander-in-Chief' and the like, the group slunk into town.

There were definitely people moving large loads in the town; in fact, they were moving large barrels and crates from the communal winter storehouse. In a neighbouring house a curtain flicked showing a child's eyes before an adult's forearm snatched her away and drew the shades once more.

Beside him Meku tensed as another man bearing a barrel marked 'wine' walked out the storeroom. "That's the guy who dumped acid on us!"

Rebels. These were rebels. No wonder the townsfolk hid.

"We need to arrest them."

"No, we need to go for reinforcements!"

"There's not time!"

Gyousou took a deep breath, "Listen. Here's what we're going to do…"

Seiku revelled in the success while driving the wagon loaded with goods back. The heist had been planned for weeks and Ancha was a perfect location: bountiful (for Tai) and guarded only by soldiers they'd injured for just this purpose. The guard here was so lax they were able to make off with the stores without the army even noticing, which, though planned through weeks of carefully staking out the army shifts, only Seiku had believed would happen. A dozen different wagons with empty crates had been dispatched in all directions, but Seiku had been given the task of driving the loaded wagon. He felt this meant he was being relied on, though in fact it was actually a mix-up. Seiku was actually meant to be a decoy, driving an empty wagon along the same road to be stopped ahead if there were any soldiers patrolling, letting the real wagon escape. No one trusted him to be able to keep up the front of _having_ the stolen goods if he drove an empty one, so the rebels planned to convince Seiku otherwise, but he had noticed he was 'accidentally' directed to an empty wagon and switched to the real loaded one.

Two figures ahead on the road caught his eye, and Seiku pulled the horses to a halt. One had his arm wrapped around the other as he walked unsteadily and belted out loud, off-key tunes drunkenly. It occurred to Seiku if these two realized something was amiss and went to alert the army there might be conflict yet, and in that possible conflict some of the supplies might be damaged. That wouldn't do; in Tai every last grain of rice is a matter of life or death.

"Hey! Whatcha doing out so late!"

The unsteady one laughed, "Whatcha! Watchin' 'n' caught 'cha! Whatcha yerself!"

The other fellow elbowed him, "Shut up, nii-san!" Turning to Seiku he huffed, "Pay no mind to my idiot brother! Because he never come home last night I spends the day looking and wheres I finds him? At the bottle! You knows what he says to me, who spended all day alooking? He says…"

"Where are you headed?"

"Well, now, that's just the problem! We's supposed to be aheading back home to Kan, staying the night in Hanchu," Hanchu was a cluster of houses a day's walk away, Kan a hamlet three days away. "but no! Me brother just _had_ to home awand'ring and adrinking! Now we's out at this cold hour and nowhere nearby to spend the night 'cept Ancha, no matter that it's outta our way!"

That wouldn't do at all. They'd taken a couple of citizens of Ancha hostage to avoid them running for the army, but strangers might not care about the captives. "You know what, I happen to be driving towards Kan, why don't you hitch a ride with me?"

The sober peasant bowed. "If yeh don' mind, I'll take you up on that mighty kind offer!"

As the two climbed aboard Seiku caught the pungent smell of alcohol radiating off the man who stepped up uneasily, and the whole ride the man sang out drunkenly, only stopping when his brother yelled at him, and it occurred to Seiku this was perfect camouflage: no one would expect a sneaky rebel getaway vehicle to be making this racket.

Nonetheless, when well into the next day Seiku pulled his carriage to the side of the forked road leading to Kan he was glad to be rid of the bickering brothers. The still intoxicated (had he stolen some of their wine?) one leapt from the wagon and, stumbling over the uneven ground, landed in a crevice. Swearing, his brother ran over.

"He's done something funny to it!" Even Seiku could tell the blotchy skin was no good. It would need treatment.

He hesitated, but the last thing he wanted was for the two to be stranded on the road, as abandoning them now would look suspicious. He'd told the sober man, Boku Sou, that he was a peddler and planned to uphold that deception. "I have some customers in the woods nearby; I'll leave you two here and grab some bandages."

His companions at the base quizzed him, "You sure they didn't see which way you went? If they tell someone…"

He scoffed, "With all those trees? I'm telling you, one is dead drunk and causing so much ruckus the other wouldn't notice if I drove them right into the cave!"

Had they known he drove the real supply wagon they would have quizzed him more, but as it was they let him go to get rid of the unwanted strangers.

Seiku, catching sight of the two, shook his head that anyone would be suspicious of these simpletons, even just going on report alone. The younger brother bound the leg tightly and profusely thanked Seiku for all his help. The two set off down the fork leading to Kan, and Seiku headed back to his safehouse. After all, there was still a load of winter supplies to move to their main hideout. It's not like being a rebel ever put food on the table.

After Seiku was no longer visible and the churning of the wheels faded into the distance the 'drunk' man let out a moan,

"Man, Saku, that impact hurt worse than I thought! I told you we should have just gone with the fall-over-while-walking-drunkenly idea!"

Gyousou glared at Kai. "There's no way you'd still be drunk enough to walk off a ledge! We should be thankful that guy didn't question how you could possibly not have sobered up yet!"

"He was pretty thick. He didn't notice you following him, did he?"

"Him? Are you kidding?"

For that had been the plan. There was not a way to stop the rebels, but Gyousou had sent Nan to alerts the other three and Meku to report to the base, then disguised himself and Kai, and poured alcohol all over the latter. Then they hurried down the road the loaded wagon was poised on while the rebels finished their loading and intercepted it believably far enough from Ancha that they wouldn't have wanted to walk there. At the same time the other four 'borrowed' horses from Ancha (where it hopefully would be overlooked when they were returned with the food) and rode hidden in the hedge growth and dark, following the noise Kai made and, when Kai's voice grew tired, Gyousou's 'lectures'. Then, when Seiku neared his hideout and tried to get rid of them, Kai would 'hurt' his already twisted ankle (the real reason for the unsteady walking) and Gyousou would follow Seiku to the hide out.

After that the other four kept watch on the safe house, and when the supplies were transported they located the main hideout. By then the rest of the regiment had arrived, and they directed them to the rebel base. In the surprise attack most of the rebels were killed or captured, and the stores returned to Ancha.

Gyousou expected his success would have won him a place on the north patrol, and was unfazed when he was promoted to leading the patrols. What he hadn't expected, though gladly accepted, was a place offered to him in the Oushi shortly thereafter as an officer.


	4. Ch4: General

Ch4: General

"General On, you requested to see me?"

On, the Oushi's General of the Left, was an imposing woman who looked to be in her late fifties, but was in fact nearly twice that. Her countenance carried age lines, but she had no wrinkles, making her look sever and dignified instead of old. She gave off the impression of a deep rooted tree.

"Indeed. Take a seat, Sub-Commander Saku." It had been a little more than a decade since Gyousou was made a minor officer of the Oushi, and had further distinguished himself until he rose to be a sub-commander in the Left Guard. His position was the highest rank of non-sennin, so it could be said he was the best was of the expendables; after all, if his position was really irreplaceable he would be immortal.

"May I inquire as to the nature of this interview?"

On steeled herself, "Have you perchance heard rumour of my impending retirement?"

"I do not put much validity into common gossip, but I have heard rumours to that effect."

"Well, for once, they are correct: I am resigning my position and have recommended you to succeed me. As you will doubtlessly be approached about the matter, I believed it only fair to notify you beforehand."

"Not one of the commanders? Not Commander Ganchou?" There was the general, and under the general were commanders of each regiment, and under the commanders were sub-commanders of each regiments' division. When a general retired she was normally succeeded by one of the commanders, so On's decision was stunning.

On shook her head. "It's true Ganchou – and many other commanders – are qualified for the position and normally I would recommend one of them. However, this is not the right time to have a merely adequate general. Saku, the regime is rolling down a slope to disaster. It began rolling right when it began, now it's built up momentum. Perhaps something will stop it before it smashes, perhaps not. The only thing I'm sure about now is that things are getting difficult and I'm not the woman I was. My family is all died ahead of me and all I can think about is joining them, everything else is a bothersome chore. I'm a decent general, perhaps even a good one, but I'm nothing exceptional. I'm no hero, and that's exactly what the people need: a hero. Ganchou could replace me but you," here she shook her head admiringly, "could be your own legend. The people need legends when everything else fails them. They need hope."

"What makes you think I could give it to them?" Gyousou was not doubting himself, but merely asking the reason why On acknowledged him as capable of this feat.

She looked squarely at him, hands folded under her chin. "Because you are determined to improve this country, even if you have to flip it upside down. Many people yearn for that, but those who will act on it are rare. Even rarer are those who will act honourably on it: there is no end to rebels trying to force the country to change using terror. But you, Saku, might just accomplish it using sheer determination."

Three weeks later it was announced that Gyousou was now General of the Left. He was 32 at the time.

The young sub-commander becoming general caused a great outcry and embittered many of the commanders. Fortunately Ganchou, Gyousou's former superior officer who had just become his subordinate, merely laughed, "So now the table's turned, eh? Always felt weird giving you orders."

His support was greatly appreciated, not only for friendship sake, but because most of the other commanders felt jaded and were openly hostile to him. The troops as well were used to the noble visage of On and didn't take well to being ordered around by a youth. Command was not easy, and Gyousou showed no mercy to those who infringed on any rules in the slightest, until he became grudgingly respected as the glacier general who carried his opponents off in an unstoppable icy current.

On the other hand, he was immediately popular with the king for reasons he couldn't fathom. It was said KyouOu was an excellent judge of character who could sniff out corruption faster than a bloodhound could blood, which might explain why the king valued him as an officer and depended on him, but Gyousou never did figure out why the king also personally liked him even though they were polar opposites.

Despite now being heavily relied upon by the king, the Taiho Tairin was just as distant as ever. But then even KyouOu admitted she never spoke more than a sentence or two at a time to him, so it was unsurprising. Old timers left over from the Scholar-King's reign claimed that she had once been shy, but not moping and aloof. Gyousou wondered if their memories were playing fanciful tricks on them.

Tairin rarely called the king to account over anything without being first urged by someone else, and didn't even frequently attend meetings. Supposedly she locked herself up in the libraries built and amassed with books by her first liege. Whatever it was she did, when the king suddenly declared he was going to host a festival there was no Taiho to gainsay him, and none of the ministers succeeded in convincing KyouOu the country finances couldn't support the proposition.

Even Gyousou had to admit the festivities were magnificent, but he couldn't help but morbidly wonder where the money spent on diamond studded napkins was meant to have gone. KyouOu had invited the rulers of neighbouring nations, so the treasury was also strained just entertaining the monarchs of Ryuu, Han, Kei, and En. Hou had no ruler and the queen of Kyou declared she had better things to do, like run a country.

The king of En also clearly wished to have played hooky; the death glares sent his way by the accompanying ministers from En showed who really had accepted the invitation. KyouOu, perceiving this highly important neighbour's boredom, started talking until the conversation turned to, of all things, Gyousou.

"…and then he charged into the encampment with only thirty men and apprehended all the renegades." Encouraged by the king of En's no longer glazed expression, KyouOu pressed on, "Perchance the Royal En might deign to grant my General of the Left a duel?"

Within 15 minutes it was arranged that Gyousou and the Royal En would compete in three duels over the next three days, with the festival goers as spectators. No one asked Gyousou his opinion, but it was unnecessary: as if he'd refuse the once in a lifetime opportunity to test himself against the great Royal En Shoryuu!

Before he dueled him he'd thought it astounding that this lazy, easy-going man was the king who had ruled for five hundred years and turned his dying country into the wealthiest in the world. After the first match he'd understood En's king was like an iceburg; the most impressive parts were hidden beneath the deceiving surface. Shoryuu was a truly an unyielding man, no matter what he's outer façade looked like. By the third fight it had come to be whispered that two legends, whose appearances were similar in age even if there was a five hundred year difference, were facing off against one another. The third match even those who boycotted the rest of the festival attended. The third match Gyousou won.

Once his youth made him despised; now it made his accomplishments impressive. The formerly sullen commanders stood proudly to the side as their general was awarded a sword by KyouOu. Where formerly any orders he issued would be cross examined for flaws inspired by youthful folly, suddenly they were sacrilege and to be followed to the letter. All his former victories were retold, and all his new successes were celebrated. His name spread all across the nation.

Saku Gyousou, formal name Boku Sou, the Oushi's General of the Left. The young sub-commander made general. The general who bested the legendary Shoryuu, king of En. The jewel in the crown.

Gyousou was Tai's hero.


	5. Ch5: Corpse Hunter

/**

*For those who haven't read the translated parts of Tonan no Tsubasa, people who capture and sell youjuu for a living are called youjuu hunters, corpse hunters(since they're more likely to bring back their dead comrades than youjuu), ryoushishi, and shushi. Ryoushishi is the name that others give them, shushi is what they call themselves. Ryoushishi rank above others that make their living travelling through the Yellow Sea, such as goushi(escorts/bodyguards hired by people going on a shouzan), and are considered the elite. As such, the ryoushishi look down on outsiders who come into their territory.

**/

* * *

Ch5: Corpse Hunter

"What! You… what was your name again?"

"Boku Sou, from Tai."

"Boku Sou, you want to come with us? You've got to be kidding! You do know why youjuu hunters are called corpse hunters, right? I'm not carrying your rotting corpse all through the Yellow Sea until Ankou Day!"

The white haired man didn't look dissuaded in the least, "I enlisted in one of the provincial armies when I came of age, have been fighting ever since, and am competent enough with the sword to hold my own against any youma. Because of the changing times in Tai, I have had to do just that often recently."

The weather worn, hard bitten ryoushishi stared at him warily. "I've heard youma are starting to appear in Tai… But it can't be compared to the Yellow Sea. Taking you with us would be nothing more than a liability."

Gyousou had expected this much resistance, and practiced for it. "I assure you that I am as aware of the dangers of the Yellow Sea as any person who has never travelled there can be, and I certainly don't presume to ask shushi to guard one such as myself. Think of me as an apprentice. With Tai beginning to fall, I am just one who considers obtaining the survival knowledge of the shushi as a matter of grave importance."

The oldest of the shushi harrumphed. "Travelling to the Yellow Sea to learn to survive youma attacks is like jumping into a tidal wave to learn to swim. Either your head is screwed on backwards or you have other motives."

"Indeed. I would not have taken a sabbatical for any one reason, but several have prompted me to do so. Firstly, as I have said, the state of Tai is one that requires skill in youma hunting, particularly for a military man such as myself. Related to that, if the king does fall I would then go on a shouzan and would prefer to be able to rely on my own skills rather than those of a goushi. Also, because I am often called to the battle lines, I require a kijuu that is so well-trained trained I can trust my life to it, and I will do that only with one I've caught with my own hands. And since the beast will be risking its own life for me, it is only fair of me to do the same to capture it. Preferably, I'd like a suugu."

A large shushi laughed, "You drunk? We'd _all_ like a suugu, and then we could retire in peace. They're not easy to catch, y'know?"

One of the younger men, a silent type, frowned suspiciously. "Does the military normally allow its members to take a sabbatical for an indefinite amount of time?"

Gyousou smiled mysteriously. "I'm irreplaceable."

The oldest looked sharply at Gyousou. Gyousou met her gaze unflinchingly and she looked away grudgingly. "If you die, Boku Sou, we're not toting your corpse back."

Gyousou bowed, "Thank you very much."

Aside from Gyousou, there were three ryoushishi in his group: a gruff middle aged woman named Bakutan, a sturdily built man named Sae, and the silent man, Nantou. The oldest shushi had opted to remain behind and train the latest catches, claiming Gyousou would take her place. None of the others had been happy about this. Originally, Gyousou had been commanded by Bakutan, the leader now, to watch Nantou, the rookie, and copy him. However, after a particularly disastrous encounter with a kochou, in which Nantou narrowly avoided losing an arm due to Gyousou's timely intervention, Gyousou seemed to be accepted as a fellow (albeit rookie) shushi as the two old timers sat them both down and dressed their wounds.

"Bad luck to run into a kochou, they're one of the toughest opponents out here. Guess since you're both still breathing, 'long as you keep alert and your wits about you you'll survive," was Bakutan's muttered comfort as she roughly rubbed stinging medicine on Nantou's arm.

Sae's eyes glimmered in mischief. "Oh, I don't know about that. Struggling this much against a kochou, if you two run into a dragon or toutetsu you're finished!"

Nantou flinched almost unperceptively at the latest attack on his wounds, and asked in the serious tone of a diligent student, "What is the best method to avoid a dragon or toutetsu?"

Sae's face was completely deadpan. "Dragons have motion vision, see, so if you don't move they can't see you. This includes breathing. When confronted with a dragon, you take deep breaths in through your nose, and then silently release through your mouth. And you can't blink. If you blink, the dragon will see the movement and you're dead. So if you see a dragon, don't run for cover. Just stand still, even if you're completely exposed, and the dragon will pass you by like you are a tree. I once had one pee on me, thinking I _was_ a tree. As for toutetsu, they are attracted to the colour purple and afraid of orange, as well as very sensitive to sound. So if you paint your whole body orange and run around naked chanting, 'Bungala we-wo, I'm an orange people!' very loudly, the toutetsu will run away."

Wide eyed, Nantou asked, "What if you don't have any orange paint?"

"Don't listen to his nonsense! Toutetsu and dragons are the inventions of some _shouzan goers'_," Bakutan dropped the last two words off her tongue like they were particularly offensive swearwords, "imagination when they saw the tree branches make scary shadows on their nice cosy tent flaps and heard the scary cry of a youma twenty miles away. In my thirty-five years of hunting, not once have I seen either, and the same of my master, and his master, and his master! And," shooting him a dirty look, "neither has Sae!"

"But what if they do exist and we run into one?"

"Run. Run and hope that your companions behind you are fat enough that it won't pursue," Bakutan said darkly.

Thankfully, the collective knowledge of the shushi seemed accurate and they didn't have to put Bakutan's advice to the test. Nantou asked Gyousou to give him sword fighting tips, and in return taught him all he knew about the Yellow Sea.

"…once the fruit has dried, you can use it in place of wood to burn, so if you are ever in an area without wood, use this."

Gyousou peered at the plant Nantou was showing him. "You said it was called keihaku?"

"Yes. It grows all over the place here in the Yellow Sea, though not in any of the kingdoms. Since it can thrive basically anywhere, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it. Now, since it is still summer, the fruit hasn't grown yet. The fruit begins growing in early spring and is fully ripe in late fall. It's a good idea to dry some out then, and carry it with you for emergencies."

"This would be really useful to the people of Tai," Gyousou muttered.

Sae grinned, "Once your king falls, and you go on that shouzan, and get some little blond pipsqueak to declare you king, go pray to Tentei for it!"

"I think I will."

The others rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Sae widened his eyes dramatically and made a big show of throwing a hand to his forehead, "Oh no, you can't go on a shouzan like that! First, you have to throw all your common sense out the window and start lighting camp fires right, left, and center. Then, you need to cook meat at every meal, the bloodier the better. When a youma comes along, remember the old shouzan law: the louder you scream, the more erratically you run, and the more often you drop your weapons, the safer you are. Then, when you get to Mt. Hou, if the kirin wishes you well until the solstice, try kidnapping it."

Gyousou was shocked. "Does anyone actually do that?!"

Bakutan snorted. "Every time people go on a shouzan the road back in littered with the dozens who thought brute force was an advisable method to have Heaven change its mind about them. At least, it's littered with their corpses; most of those idiots die alone on the way back." Seeing Gyousou's horror, she said briskly, "For once Sae isn't being a complete fool: you have too much sense to waste on a shouzan. If you really must go, don't stick with the main group. There's no better way to lure every youma within a ten mile radius to you than by following those noobs."

Like this, the three shushi made it no secret they thought his plans to take the throne if the king fell were ridiculous. Granted, to them Gyousou was nothing more than a simple provincial soldier who decided to take a vacation in the Yellow Sea and thought he could catch a suugu.

It took some time before he could convince them to try suugu hunting. Luckily, they seemed to have made a good catch of youjuu last time and didn't mind too much the extra bother of setting up the almost sure-fail suugu traps. After the first trip, when Gyousou made sure he understood _exactly_ how they worked and what to do, the two older shushi wanted to do more productive hunting and Gyousou would set off with just Nantou whenever they were in the suugu area.

The night of his sixth attempt was completely normal. However, at about the third watch he felt the string pulling taut, alerting him that a suugu had stepped into his trap. Gyousou nudged the sleeping Nantou, and they both crept out from their hiding place behind a crag full of rank smelling moss – a precaution so that the suugu wouldn't catch their smell and disappear. In their trap were two suugu: one white and one black.

Gyousou and Nantou exchanged briefly in the ryoushishi hand signals that they both knew fluently and snuck down from opposite sides. Gyousou made cautiously for one end of the trap, and Nantou for the other. Watching the suugu carefully, Gyousou could see the black one scarfing down the agate shards, then rubbing its head into them and rolling over. The white suugu was more cautious, looking warily about as it licked at the gem dust. It paused every few moments to sniff the air, clearly suspicious of this convenient treat. When Gyousou was just pulling the lever of the trap his fingers knocked into a pebble, sending it sprawling. The white one's head swiveled towards him and it charged, roaring its displeasure. At the same time the trap sprang shut, effectively trapping the intoxicated black one. The white one was lucid enough to aim for the trap entrance, and Gyousou pounced on it.

Nantou ran forward but could only stand uncertainly to the side as Gyousou wrestled the enormous tiger-beast. In one hand he held a steel entwined rope with a hoop, and with his other the thrashing head of the suugu. Both fought ferociously as two raised in hostile environments used to fighting to the death, but in the end Gyousou hooked the lasso over the suugu's head. The suugu snarled at him, he hit it on the muzzle, and it tried to bite his hand off. Gyousou stared into its multi-coloured eyes without the least indication of fear and it glowered back as he dragged it into the mesh-wire net the black one was entrapped in.

When Bakutan and Sae arrived at their rendezvous and saw the two entrapped suugu their jaws dropped open in a comic fashion. It was nearing the time of the autumn solstice, and the group hurried back to the gate. As they passed the hundreds of shouzan goers from Kou Kingdom Gyousou watched their jaws drop at the sight of the two suugu parading past.

After the old man did the first 'breaking' of the youjuu and Gyousou was instructed in the particulars of suugu training, the white suugu was given over to him, while Nantou kept the black one. The whole group begged him to stay, but he insisted that he needed to return from his sabbatical.

"You've been gone three years, do you really think they've kept your job for you!" Bakutan exclaimed.

Gyousou laughed. "It's not exactly easy to find a new Oushi General of the Left."

Their faces at that moment were would have put shusei comedy masks to shame.


	6. Ch6: Dying Dynasty

Ch6: Dying Dynasty

A legendary philosopher of Kan had once said, "If the King loves music, it is well with the land." Maybe that was so in Kan but clearly, Gyousou thought, that philosopher had never been to Tai!

Gyousou was currently sitting in his main office with his fingers stuffed in his ears, trying to simultaneously block out the irritating refrains drifting from the corridor and word a petition to restore the Oushi training budget, which had been severely cut in his absence. He had just finished his rough draft and was reviewing it for errors when the door swung open and in walked a man dressed in so many layers with so many bobbles and sashes and furs that he had to walk sideways through the door. Behind him trailed an simply, but elegantly, dressed woman with free-flowing honey spun gold hair.

"General of the Left! I've been meaning to talk to you!" the King of Tai said.

Gyousou bowed. "Your Majesty, Taiho, as it pleases you."

"As you know, the gardens of the outlying palaces are in terrible, _terrible_ disarray," as a matter of fact, Gyousou didn't know. There was no reason for him – or anyone really – to need to go to one of the outlying palaces as anything that could be found there would be better found in a more central, easily accessible location. "It pleases me to undertake a project that will restore them to their former glory," as far as Gyousou knew, nobody had ever bothered to take much notice of those gardens since the founding of the world, "and I am looking for a team of workers who are free to do so and as Tai is peaceful at the moment…" he trailed off, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Absolutely not, Gyousou thought, "I regret to inform Your Majesty that kyuuki were sighted at a hamlet three miles from Shajun and I must dispatch…"

"Pah! Let the provincial army handle it! There's no need to mobilize my guard."

"With all due respect," the music was giving him a headache and his voice took on a testy edge, "but because ten years ago Your Majesty cut the provincial army recruitment funds, right now the provincial army is completely taxed trying to build floodgates for the spring." Springs in Tai were both joyous and terrifying, as the huge snow melts often flooded the rivers and destroyed property, particularly if there was a sudden onset of warm weather causing the snow to all melt in the course of a few days.

"It's just a couple of youma, right? They just have to send over a squadron to swing their swords around and chop them up, then head on back and keep building the floodgates. I need those crystal gardens built, if my musicians are kept in those drab quarters their music will be melancholy and substandard."

So that was it. The outlying palaces, those rarely frequented buildings located on the edge of the Inner Palace, must now be the living quarters of the absurdly numerous Imperial Court musicians. Before Gyousou could think of a diplomatic answer that would change the king's mind, KyouOu was called by someone from a nearby office, probably to complain about a budget cut, which was currently the chief concern of everyone in this military section of the palace.

Tairin remained standing tranquilly in his office and Gyousou turned to her hesitantly. As per usual she was gazing off into the distance with melancholy, seeing never returning days from her foalhood with her first liege. She was currently thinking of the late king reading her bed-time proverbs from dusty tombs when she was small, and the happy memory was overshadowed with the deep sorrow she carried knowing that that man had abdicated to save her from the horrible death that her shitsudou had made inevitable, thus losing his own life. Naturally, this made it horribly awkward for anyone to try to talk to her at any time about anything, and she never took the initiative to begin the conversation. Even Gyousou was not immune to the unapproachable Tairin. "Taiho, could you perhaps consider petitioning His Majesty to decrease the numbers of musicians?"

Tairin merely recited dully, " 'Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.' Let His Majesty have his musicians and he will be more motivated to work."

"His musicians are cutting into other people's workload with their nonstop playing. No one can concentrate on work when all they can think of is the never ending song playing in the background!"

" 'When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war'. It is better for the military officers to be listening to music when they are working, as it will result in less bloodshed."

This, Gyousou thought, was why one should never go through the bother of attempting to reason anything with a kirin: the bloody pacifists never understood. Whenever he tried to tell Tairin something she'd glumly quote some obscure proverb her first king had shared with her that she thought addressed the present problem, until he wanted to burn all manuscripts of the philosophers of Kan and force her to give some real, thought-out advice. He was sure that the reason so many kings fell early was not just because of their own incompetence but also because the 'holy kirin' was as susceptible to flaws as a human.

KyouOu walked sideways back into Gyousou's office, exclaiming, "Why all my military officers feel their troop of look-alike metal stick bangers needs a budget raise is beyond my comprehension. A sub-commander in the Right Guard just accused me of trying to starve his soldiers to fatten my concubines. Imagine the nerve!

"Your Majesty _is_ cutting a lot of our budgets recently," Gyousou said as neutrally as he could manage, "perhaps if Your Majesty were to reconsider the outlying palace gardens proposition for the time being and redistribute the funds…"

"Not you too!" the king cried, smiling and shaking his head. "Ah, general, general, general. How could I forget you are a rugged soldier at heart as well? Alas, woe is me! Surrounded by unvarnished fighters! A country without a beautiful palace is like a woman without jewelry."

"The majority of Tai's women do not adorn themselves with jewelry, having more necessary items they need to spend their finances on, since Your Majesty has increased the tax rate again."

"All the more reason to have a beautiful palace, then!"

"Your Majesty, I mean no disrespect and swear I have no ulterior motives, but the country cannot operate in this manner! Your organizational skills are unmistakeably superb, yet even so if you continue throwing Imperial funds out the window like this and raising the taxes the country will die! Even now anyone with eyes can see the first symptoms. Why does You Majesty imagine there are youma in Shajun in the first place?!"

The king merely laughed, "Soldiers really are a superstitious lot! General, I work my butt off governing the people, the taxes I collect merely pay me my salary. After nearly a century of working on their behalf, it's only fair I get a raise."

The discussions lasted much longer, and eventually Gyousou reluctantly signed twenty of his men on garden-building detail, coincidentally all those who had been slacking off recently. Funny how that happens. Long after the king left his words echoed in Gyousou's ears and for the first time he fully realized that, without some unforeseen miracle, the king's fall was inevitable. He'd thought before that KyouOu would not have an especially long reign and made vague preparation for the eventual demise, but this discussion had thrown into his perspective just how short his reign would last. How long until Tairin was struck with shitsudou? Half a century? A dozen years? Less than that? The king was truly a fearfully brilliant organizer and didn't tolerate corruption or injustice in his officials, yet the country was floundering in debt.

If it was inevitable anyways, would it be better to get it over with quickly?

His charred hometown and Wagai's hanging face, two things he hadn't thought of in decades, flashed into his mind and Gyousou squashed the idea. Revolution too often caused more casualties than it prevented, and who would take over afterwards? With no king suspicious characters would pop into the political arena right, left, and center, all the more so if the king met his end violently and without warning. The soonest they could be dealt with would depend on how long it took to find a new king. Technically he could keep Tairin alive if he killed the king, but a Taiho who lived in the past would just fail to call the future king to account as well. If he killed Tairin it would take five years at best for the next Kirin of Tai to be old enough to choose a king, though eight or so was usually a better estimate. Also, one needed to factor in that the rightful king might not go on a shouzan, thus making the wait much longer as the kirin would need to seek him or her out. No, revolution was an unnecessary, risky business. Better to let the king exhaust the Mandate of Heaven and try to prop up the government from the inside. As long as the king didn't do anything ridiculous like order a massacre it was better to wait him out. Gyousou was not happy with this conclusion as he preferred swift action, but years of command had taught him the importance of patience and he had seen firsthand many times the desolation caused by minor rebellions. A full-blown insurrection would be a thousand times worse.

Sighing in resignation to Tai's impending doom, Gyousou began mentally going through a list of his subordinates, trying to picture who would do best where and planning how to train them to be become pillars in the government after the headstone has fallen.

Thus the years passed just as Gyousou had predicted, until one morning a servant ran into the main hall crying,

"The Hakuchi has fallen, the king is dead!"

Gyousou, along with everyone else in the room, sighed in relief. However Gyousou, unlike anyone else in the room, was at the same time running through the names of those he trusted in his mind and trying to see if there was any place of the realm they were not spread over. It was hard to imagine he had missed an area, seeing for nearly half a century he had been meticulously training bright and virtuous youngsters and sending them as far across the realm as his connections allowed. In these last years when taxes rose to a ludicrous rate and abject characters popped out of the woodwork to devour the dying regime he convinced all his older protégé to take on their own disciples and scatter them as well. Reassured that he had indeed covered all the major areas, he breathed a second sigh of relief and started running through his plans of how to loophole through the tax rates, which could not be officially lowered until a new king was chosen.

Tairin had died ten months earlier of shitsudou and the king had secluded himself in his chamber ordering ever more expensive food, wine, and entertainment as he awaited death in gross luxury. Whoever found some excuse to drop by the king's chambers was always met with the same question, _Is he dead yet_? At this point everyone knew it would be any day, as no king ever lived more than a year after their kirin died. Therefore, the news that the king had died was most welcomed, as it meant that finally his increasingly ridiculous demands would stop flowing from his feast chambers. The ministers were already all gossiping about who might be the next king, and Gyousou's name could be heard from several directions.


	7. Ch7: Lost and Found

/**

*For the purposes of this chapter Taika with a capital means 'Fruit of Tai', as in the unhatched kirin whose gender is unknown, and taika with a lower case means 'Fruit of the womb', as in someone whose ranka gets blown over by a shoku and is born in Hourai.

**/

* * *

Ch7: Lost and Found

The palace was met more welcome news just four days after KyouOu's death: a new Taika had sprouted. The palace buzzed with the names 'Taiki' and 'Tairin' over the next couple of days as everyone speculated wildly over its disposition, its gender, and how long until it was mature enough to take human shape and choose a king. Despite the grimness of the situation in Tai the palace felt positively festive as everyone anticipated the day the kirin flag would rise from every shrine in the land and the first travelers could embark on a shouzan.

Two weeks into this optimistic disarray Gyousou was called out by the Chousai along with the General of the Right Asen, the head ministers of the Rikkan, and several other prominent heads of government. The Chousai's complexion was ash grey as he ordered all the servants out, then waited and suddenly jerked the door open, giving a scathing lecture to the ones who fell through. Once the servants skulked away he waved them all closer to him around the meeting table and said the terrible news in a small voice devoid of anything at all,

"The Taika is gone."

Instantly the room was in a hushed uproar of confusion. _Gone_? Gone where? Ranka were, despite their preciously enclosed embryo, _fruit_. It wasn't as if they could just wander off, nor could they be prematurely plucked. Gyousou's voice was no louder than the whispers all around him, yet it rang out all the same,

"The Chousai should explain thoroughly, starting from the beginning."

The man's shoulders slumped as he smoothed out a letter. " 'We of Mt. Hou regret to inform the illustrious ministers of the Provisional Court of Tai that six days ago on Mt. Hou we were unfortunate enough to be troubled by the occurrence of a shoku and lose the much longed for Taika. Please be assured that we of Mt. Hou immediately followed the trail of the shoku to the east, opened the Gogou Gate, and made a thorough search of Hourai. We have as of yet not been able confirm the location of the Taika, however we intend to maintain the search, and will inform you of any developments. At the same time, we must beseech you to not reveal this beyond yourselves to prevent any distress this will bring the Kingdom of Tai.' "

It felt as if the room was suddenly devoid of air. Someone commented desperately with painful hope, "The Saiho of En is a taika, is he not? If the nyosen of Mt. Hou found En Taiho in Hourai five hundred years ago surely they will be able to locate the Taika in the same country?"

One of the oldest members of the assembly sighed heavily, "So we hope, but the fact remains taika kirin are rare for a reason: it's hard to search an entire country for a baby you don't know the face of. Kings that were born taika are much more common, comparatively, due to the kirin's ability to sense the king's whereabouts. Sadly, En Taiho is the rare exception in many identical cases where after ten years passed a new ranka sprouted."

"The normal lifespan of a kingless kirin is thirty years, is it not?"

The previous speaker shook his head, "The records clearly indicate that the lifespan of taika kirin who are not found and returned is ten years. We should consider the worst case scenario and prepare for a potential minimum 15 year vacancy."

The meeting was adjourned with each member swearing to tell only their trusted subordinates about the Taika's disappearance, to prevent problems that records told of what happened when the people learned they had to potentially live for at least 15 more years in their misery.

Later that night Gyousou sat with a hard expression on his face, completely unnoticed by his servants, unlike many of his contemporaries' servants who were currently wondering why their masters had left the Chousai's meeting sobbing. He briefly thought of his long-lost sibling and wondered what kind of land Hourai was if it reduced kirin to a third their normal lifespan. He felt a bit queer as it occurred to him his elderly younger sibling might pass the young Taika on the street without either of them realizing neither was meant to be born there.

He hadn't joined in the celebrations of the general Court, yet the news of the kirin's disappearance was most disheartening. Gyousou had been planning to prop up the Provisional government for five or so years then journey on the shouzan when the flag was raised to become king. It simply hadn't occurred to him the Taika would just vanish. Briefly, he wondered if Tentei existed, and if he did, why he let such disastrous events rain down one after another on Gyousou's beloved homeland.

But Gyousou had never had the disposition to sit idly by and wait patiently for things to work themselves out while whining, so he immediately began planning the best methods to support the country ten years past the date he had expected to.

And thus, ten hard years passed with Gyousou and his allies locked in a cold war in a bitterly frozen land against opponents who could not be removed. He counted the years since the Taika had vanished, especially leading up to the five year and ten year milestones, and was not surprised, therefore, around ten years later when he was delivering a report to the Chousai that a letter from Mt. Hou arrived. Gyousou dismissed the servants as the Chousai sent his aides to fetch the heads of the current makeshift regime. When the council gathered grimly around the table, the Chousai opened the letter with a resigned look.

His orange eyes scanned the contents and then, stunned, his numb fingers let the letter slip from them onto the table. Gyousou reached for the heavy decorative paper and read the contents once, twice, and a third time to make absolutely sure he had not somehow misinterpreted them before clearing his throat and reading to the ministers in a voice as composed as he could make it, which was very composed,

" 'We of Mt. Hou take great pleasure in formally announcing to the Chousai and the illustrious leaders of the Provisional Court of the Far Kingdom of Tai that the Mt. Hou Kou, Taiki, was located by the Saiho of the Middle Kingdom of En a fortnight ago and has since been successfully retrieved with the assistance of the Saiho of the Far Kingdom of Ren. He appears to be in good health and is expected to make a full recovery from the horrific ordeal he underwent these last ten years. Therefore, we hereby notify the Provisional Court of the Kingdom of Tai that they have the permission of Hekika Genkun Gyokuyou and the nyosen of Mt. Hou to raise the Kirin Flag in every shrine in the kingdom and send candidates for the throne on their way at the next Ankou Day.' "

The room was as silent as everyone struggled to process this unexpected information, each having thought they had been brought here to receive the news that a new Taika had sprouted on the Shashinboku, following the death of the ten-year-old lost Taika. Nobody had imagined, the Taika – Taiki, they corrected themselves mentally – had survived all these years and been located. It truly was something like a miracle to each of the shocked and barely daring to hope gathered leaders.

When the letter had been passed from hand to hand and it was indeed confirmed that yes, it did say just that, the whole assembly was dismissed as the Chousai headed to the communication department. One of the generals ran out the room punching the air and yelling, "YES!" and hurried to tell his commanders and sub-commanders the good news. Many ministers who left that day went to the provisions offices to see how quickly they might get to Mt. Hou, and whether or not they could make it by the next Ankou day.

Gyousou did not go. It wasn't that he wasn't planning to go on the shouzan, it was that he had already calculated the time it would take to set his affairs in order and find someone to take his place while he journeyed to Mt. Hou, then added in the time it took to gather supplies adequate for the long journey and how quickly Keito could get him there without tiring them both out and leaving them vulnerable to youma attacks in the Yellow Sea, and had come to the conclusion that there was no way he could possibly set out for the next Ankou Day. It was unfortunate, but the day was too fast approaching for him to set everything in order, and once the other ministers came back from the provisions offices they agreed: only a complete fool would abandon all his responsibilities and rush over to Mt. Hou. In the first place Tai had endured more than ten years without a king, another quarter year would not kill her, and it was not as if being the first to arrive on the mountain made a person the king. The king would be selected regardless of when they arrived, though for the country's sake it was better to be selected sooner.

Going on a shouzan was a treacherous business as the Yellow Sea was full of youma, wild youjuu, poisonous plants, poisonous water, poisonous vapours, pitfalls, sudden storms, quicksand, and virtually every natural danger posed to humans ever. Most people going on shouzan stuck together in groups that protected each other to minimize on losses. However, these groups always developed their own politics, and the strong people were relied on by the weak to protect them, and thus any deaths, injuries, and property damage was heaped on the strongest, most knowledgeable person's shoulders. Sae, who had been a goushi in his youth, had once (in a rare serious mood) described what a complete fiasco travelling with a shouzan group was to Gyousou (in an effort to persuade him to never go on one), and Gyousou's own eyes had seen the brightly lit fires dotting the Yellow Sea path that practically screamed, "Human Buffet! All Hungry Youma Gather Here!"

So as he walked the broken path leading to Ht. Hou with no more people than the subordinates that had volunteered to accompany him and could be spared for several months, amounting to Eishou, Ganchou, and Seirai. Gyousou himself and these four looked horribly vulnerable and out of depth in the vast wilderness of the Yellow Sea to many hungry youma that eyed them. Those youma soon found out they were mistaken.

Gyousou stopped briefly on the way to Mt. Hou to try to catch another suugu, but was unsuccessful and had to eventually dissemble his traps and continue on. As it was, he arrived a couple days after the bulk of the travellers.

* * *

/**

*I FOUND IT! Someone posted a comment somewhere asking if kirin only living ten or so years in Japan was canon and so I tried to find the passage that said so but couldn't for the longest time. I was starting to doubt myself, thinking maybe I made it up, when I was reading through Kaze no Banri for something else and came across it by accident in the most random place. Now I can stop second guessing myself.

*Kaze no Banri Chapter 43, page 58. "Keiki-and all kirin-ate nothing tinged with blood. They weren't forced to reject it out of hand, but even foods fried or sauteed in suet would harm their bodies. According to Rokuta, kirin of En, that was why kirin swept away to Yamato never lived long. The shortened lifespan of a kirin without a king was approximately thirty years. A kirin in Yamato could last maybe a third that long."

**/


	8. Ch8: Kirin

Ch8: Kirin

Arriving in a group of four completely separate from any larger group was the surest way of attracting attention among the pilgrims. Seirai swore within ten minutes of their arrival six different groups of people came up and asked him if it was true that the white haired man he arrived with was _that_ General Saku and Gyousou, feeling eyes on the back of his head and seeing people hurriedly turning and starting up conversations when he glanced at them, decided for once Seirai might not be joking. And attention can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

"Hear yeh're General Saku of the Left Guard, yeah?" the man leering over him was _big_. Even Ganchou, who was an abnormally large, looked dwarfed beside him. "Thought yeh'd be fashionably late, did yeh? Arrive here all decked out in that nice shiny black armour and have everyone go 'wow, it's General Saku!' Can't see what's so great about yeh meself. Bet the real reason yeh went separate from everyone else is 'cuz yeh're didn't want no one to see yeh cry when the big bad youma attacked."

Was this man an idiot? Gyousou itched to whack some sense into him, but fighting was strictly forbidden on Mt. Hou due to the distress bloodshed causes kirin. Satisfying his pride over some idiot's inane insults was definitely not worth getting barred from the mountain over.

The stranger, however, was not finished talking and a crowd was beginning to gather. Gyousou ignored his ravings and continued unpacking, until he heard the metallic whisper of a sword being drawn from its sheath. "… yeh know how many people died back there in the Yellow Sea? Yeh're nothing but a coward, a low class knave who can't be bothered to help anyone but himself and makes stupid publicity stunts like showing up late alone. All those rumours praising 'General Saku of the Tetsui Dispute' are garbage, yeh couldn't win the freaking fight so yeh hid under the title of 'good faith' and bribed the people to open the treasury. Yeh rigged the whole thing, didn't yeh? 'Tetsui Shield', pah!" the man swung his sword sloppily at Gyousou, who had absolutely no problem dodging it.

Sense told him he should not fight on Mt. Hou, as the nyosen did not tolerate any violence. However, sense also told him that just dodging the random swings would get him nowhere. The latter bit of sense had pride and an extremely limited tolerance for disrespect as its allies, and thus won the internal war.

At this point the crowd gathering around was extremely large and noisy. Perhaps this is why Gyousou failed to notice the crowd begin to part at the back, or hear a woman cry out, "Stop! Where do you think you are?"

Dodging yet another swing, he swung his fist with precision developed over a century of fighting. It landed squarely into the man's jaw and sent him flying. Though the stranger twitched on the ground, too jarred from the impact to move, years on the battlelines told Gyousou this man would have nothing but bruises to mark the fight.

Gyousou was fully aware of the consequences awaiting him if someone should report this to the nyosen and was _not_ happy with the block-headed stranger, "How dare you draw your sword in the honourable residence of the Mt. Hou Kou! You should be extending our gratitude to the Kou."

Turning away in disgust, he caught sight of just what he did _not_ want to see: a group of elaborately dressed ladies flanking a well-groomed child, who was clutching a nearby nyosen's skirt and looked extremely frightened at the violence.

_Probably the worst first impression I've ever made_, he thought wryly. He moved through the parting crowd and kneeled to the (strangely enough) black-haired boy, who clearly wished he was as far away as possible right now.

"I didn't think the Mt. Hou Kou would be here as well." For that's who this child must be, no matter the hair colour, as kirin were the only children ever on Mt. Hou. Gyousou was really very mortified at the ill-timing, and greatly wished to do some serious damage control here. From his bowed position he observed the child's grip on the nyosen's skirt lessened by a hair, and continued, "I'm extremely sorry to have done such disrespectful things here. I must ask the Kou of Mt. Hou to please forgive me."

It wasn't Taiki who replied, however, but the nyosen he was holding onto. "Please refrain from causing any more trouble on Mt. Hou."

"I really am very sorry!" Had he known the kirin was present, he would have used one of the many of the non-violent tactics to still angry peasants he had picked up over the course of his career. As it was, he was extremely grateful the nyosen had not banished him from Mt. Hou.

The nyosen whispered reassurances to Taiki and pushed him forward. The young kirin stood frozen like a rabbit, and Gyousou and he were forced to participate in an extremely awkward exchange of civilities, though Gyousou had years of court experience of his side to hide under.

"…I wish you well until the equinox." The tenseness in Taiki's body was like that of a bowstring, and he shot away with the swiftness of a released arrow, or a rabbit bolting from a fox. The crowds murmuring turn hopeful and Gyousou straightened up with as much dignity as he could manage, which was quite a bit.

As he walked into the camp his subordinates set up while the idiot from earlier had challenged him, Seirai greeted him with, "Well now, that was extremely awkward."

Gyousou grimaced. It had been one of the most, if not _the most_, awkward conversations of his life. "At least I wasn't expelled."

Being expelled from the mountain was the worst punishment afflicted on travellers. Mt. Hou was the only place in the Yellow Sea hospitable to humans in the slightest, so while expelling travellers did not necessarily mean a flogging or execution, it generally accomplished both since the expelled parties couldn't leave until the next Ankou day when the gates opened. Gyousou was confident he could survive that long in the Yellow Sea with minimum damage, but didn't relish the thought of having to actually do it, particularly when he had not come equipped for it.

Taiki's parting had been the normal statement a kirin used to gently let a person know they sensed no ouki radiating from them, so Gyousou fully expected to not see him again. That's why, a few days later, he was surprised by the voices he heard when returning to his tent.

Gyousou paused, and looked at the auburn haired woman and black haired child who both were currently admiring Keito. The woman called out to his tent, "Forgive me for inquiring, but is the master of this suugu available?"

Gyousou collected himself quickly, "If you're asking about Keito, he is my mount."

The woman sprung into a defence stance with reflexes clearly honed by years of battle experience and he noted approvingly its solidity. Taiki remembered him from their previous encounter (not that it was easy to forget), and the woman straighten her posture and started to introduce herself until Gyousou cut her off.

"You are Risai-dono of the Jou Provinicial Army, are you not?"

"Why do you…?"

"General, your name is known far and wide. There are few that do not know of you." Gyousou had heard a description from the people he had just been talking to of the General Ryuu Risai of Jou, and had remembered it because her presence in the Jou army was one that his contacts in Jou assured him was most helpful in maintaining order in the chaos of the last ten years. With one less thing to worry about in the kingdom, it would be strange for him not to know.

"Just as I thought!" Taiki, who had been watching the exchange, blurted out. When Risai and Gyousou both stared at him he turned red and muttered, "Ah… Excuse me."

Taiki shifted slightly and clearly wished the topic to change, but Gyousou was not about to let that happen: in all the years he had known Tairin she had never once ventured join a conversation, or even to comment unless first prompted, and seemed to have no opinions of her own. "As you thought?"

Taiki explanation came like a flood, as children's often do. "It's like this… I had previously said to Risai-dono that she was a very exceptional general. It seems as if I'm not the only one who thinks so…"

Taiki looked extraordinarily uncomfortable as if what he said was very foolish, and Risai's face could have fried an egg. She began to shift inwardly as if to become small and unnoticeable, which was so very incongruous with her wholly military demeanor that Gyousou had to try hard not to laugh. As if Risai was a candle that melted the ice between them, Taiki lost some of his timidity towards Gyousou. Gyousou was thinking how lucky he was that Risai was there to repair their first meeting and remembered what had started this whole conversation in the first place. Both Taiki and Risai looked glad at the change of topic, as well as the opportunity to see a suugu.

Taiki especially seemed very enthusiastic about youjuu, and seeing Keito appeared to make him slightly less skittish, though he still jumped a few times in the conversation. After he promised to take Risai out hunting for suugu, something he intended to do anyways and welcomed the extra company for, she and Taiki departed. Seirai, who arrived near the end of the conversation, waited until they were out of sight and then whacked Gyousou lightly in the arm.

"Lay off the scary face, the Kou's still just a kid."

Gyousou rubbed his arm and frowned. "I'm a _general_. My face just looks like this."

"Risai is also a general," he pointed out, "and she doesn't make him flinch."

"It's not like I want to frighten him!"

Yet every time he saw Taiki he appeared to do something that set the ten-year-old on edge. Strangely, despite his apparent fear of Gyousou, Taiki came to visit every day until eventually he seemed to have conquered the bulk of his Gyousou-phobia, as Seirai jokingly called it. After that, for the majority of the time Taiki was quite relaxed and, Gyousou discovered with a great deal of surprise, quite chatty.

Gyousou learned that in Hourai Taiki had lived with a family consisting of a grandmother, parents, and younger brother named Suguru. Taiki told him about 'streetlights' and 'airplanes' and 'telephones' and 'photographs' – all the things he had never believed about Hourai. Taiki explained the basics of 'pregnancy' to Gyousou and in return wanted to be told all about yaboku and riboku, as the idea of ranka was as strange to him and the idea of 'pregnancy' was to Gyousou. Taiki was also very curious about what generals did, what Tai was like, and a million other things.

Gyousou began to look forward to the time each day when Keito would sit upright and turn regally towards the road, where a moment later the running figure of Taiki would appear, out of breath and grinning happily. Taiki would then stop to pet Keito for a few minutes, which normally Keito didn't allow anyone but Gyousou do, before running over calling for him. Sometimes Risai came with him, since he always visited her before visiting Gyousou. On one such day they finalized the plans for their suugu hunting expedition, and both of them invited Taiki, who looked delighted then immediately downcast, saying the nyosen would probably say it was too dangerous. However, the night before a nyosen arrived from Houro Palace saying Taiki was permitted to join them.

* * *

/**

*Just thought I'd add that when Taiki explains about pregnancy to Gyousou he is only ten, and is extremely innocent even considering that since he doesn't have any friends to corrupt him and his grandmother is _very_ strict, so probably no questionable TV shows. He was probably in about grade 5, but in this story at least his class hadn't reached _that_ unit yet when he was returned to Mt. Hou. So Taiki really doesn't know much beyond that a woman's stomach gets bigger for nine months until she gives birth, and all he's been told about conception is that babies appear when a man and a woman truly love each other. In the twelve kingdoms that means Tentei hears the parents' prayer and places a ranka on the riboku, so neither Taiki nor Gyousou realize the method is different in Hourai.

**/


	9. Ch9: Shirei

Ch9: Shirei

In order to catch a youjuu it is necessary to start while it is dark. Risai and Gyousou were both finished saddling up before the crack of dawn when Taiki arrived, once again flush faced from racing about. He really was a bundle of energy, always running all over the place, never content to leisurely stroll somewhere when he could get there much faster by running.

The nyosen who were attending him were not so lighthearted. The one called Teiei, who appeared to be the highest ranked nyosen, lectured them on the importance of Taiki's safety until Gyousou couldn't take it anymore.

"We are not setting off on a sightseeing excursion. The main purpose of this trip to the edge of the Yellow Sea is to hunt for youjuu. Thus, I cannot guarantee you that it won't be dangerous. However, we are most confident that we can protect the Kou, so that is why we have invited him to come with us. For you to give us these instructions again and again, I must say that the nyosen of Mt. Hou are being a bit too discourteous." Teiei was not the least bit swayed, so Gyousou continued, "I must please ask the nyosen not to worry. The Kou is the Kirin of our Tai Kingdom. Protecting the safety of the Kou is the absolute responsibilities of the people of Tai Kingdom. Can the nyosen accept what I have said?"

Finally, Teiei relented and they were allowed to depart.

Gyousou could hear the nyosen's words ringing in his ears long after he left and thus felt distinctly displeased the whole way to the hunting ground. While he was unpacking grumpily a timid voice approached him,

"Just then… the nyosen were a little disrespectful."

He looked at Taiki, who had his head lowered as if awaiting a sever reprimanding, and felt his fizz of anger dissipate. "You don't need to apologize to me."

Taiki didn't look the least bit comforted, on the contrary he looked more flustered and guilty than before. "The nyosen worry so much because I can't do any of the things a kirin is supposed to be able to do! That's what I think it probably is… I… I don't even have any shirei. And it's not just that. I cannot transform either." Taiki shrank his small body inwards, as if hoping to become so small he might disappear. "I should have a lot of shirei and depend on those shirei to protect myself, but I don't have even one. If we have to run away, I should be able to run away by changing into kirin form, but I don't know how to transform."

He looked so disheartened and ashamed it made Gyousou's heart ache, and Gyousou longed to wipe that expression off his face and put his usually friendly enthusiasm back in its rightful place. He gently patted Taiki's head, noticing how small it felt in his palms. Taiki truly was a child, not matter how important, and a much too kind one to be allowed to suffer. Taiki looked up and gazed trustingly into Gyousou's face as he let himself be comforted.

After Taiki had calmed down he went to question Risai about the traps she was setting, listening attentively to everything she said. Watching the two of them interacting, Gyousou felt a pang that he refused to acknowledge as jealousy. It would be absurd. There was no reason for Taiki to not be better friends with Risai than he was with Gyousou, especially since Risai was much more approachable and they had known each other first. However, when Risai presently had to take off on Hien to set the lure for the trap and left Taiki in Gyousou's care he couldn't help but feel a little satisfied.

They sat together leaning against the solid, warm back of Keito (who tolerated Taiki as Gyousou had never seen him do with anyone else) and talked lightly about suugu hunting. The conversation came to a lull, and Gyousou hesitated, unsure whether the question he most wanted to ask was appropriate to voice to any kirin, no matter how friendly. After all, a kirin is second only to their own king, making Taiki, who had no Taiou as of yet, the most important person in Tai, no matter that Taiki himself didn't seem conscious of the fact. But there was something about sitting side by side in front of a campfire isolated from anyone else that made asking it seem permissible.

"Are you scared of me?"

"No…" The uncertain tone made Gyousou press further, despite Taiki's protests.

Gyousou couldn't help but morbidly wonder how he, dressed in armour that had been stained by countless people's blood, looked to the innocent child sitting next to him incapable of hurting so much as an insect. "Kirin are very compassionate creatures. It looks like I have been spared compassion, hasn't it?" Again, Taiki protested, but Gyousou continued, "I am a warrior. I cannot be compassionate. That is unavoidable..."

He hesitated once again, but decided since he'd already come this far he might as well go all the way. He would certainly never get another chance to ask. "Kou, if you recognize anything in which I am lacking, I hope that you can tell me, because I would like to know in what area I have not done well."

_Why am I not good enough?_ Whether it was the nyosen's lecture, or the fact he did not have the status to call Taiki by name, or Taiki occasionally shying away when he looked at him, it was like Heaven was laughing at his expense, taunting _it's because you are not the ruler. You're lacking a crucial quality, but I'm not telling what! _ If even KyouOu had been considered worthy to assume the throne then Gyousou felt he himself was much better suited, but there had still been no revelation. Not only had there been no revelation, but Taiki, despite his friendliness, seemed ill at ease around Gyousou, as if he was the harbinger of some horrible contagious disease.

Taiki looked bewildered. "...I think perhaps Gyousou-dono has misunderstood. Fire...is warm and bright, but at the same time, it's strong and scary, right? So that's why I'm afraid... I think that's probably how I feel about you." Taiki still looked a bit confused and fumbled with words. "It's not quite an unpleasant feeling. A big fire is frightening, but it's also beautiful and amazing. That's what I've been trying to say. I feel like you're very great, but at the same time, I'm a little scared of you."

Taiki buried is face in his hands and started to cry, and Gyousou felt guilty: the poor kid had only just forgotten his insecurities half an hour ago! "It's my fault for asking such a strange question."

"Not at all…"

Taiki's denial warmed his heart and Gyousou couldn't help but laugh, "You are a good child."

"No… That's…"

Gyousou said as firmly as he could, "You are both honest and kind. I believe Tai Kingdom will definitely get better."

Taiki looked deep into his eyes and said, "Do you really think so?" Gyousou nodded and put an arm around Taiki's small, slumped shoulders. Taiki leaned against Gyousou and his eyelids drooped, leaving Gyousou alone in silence with his own thoughts, of which he currently had many.

_Where does all this insecurity come from?_ was foremost on his mind. The kirin was the holy beast that listened to the Will of Heaven and selected a king, then became the chief advisor of their chosen king as Heaven's ambassador. Kirin were naturally compassionate, unable to abide violence or blood to the point of being unable to consume food even slightly contaminated by meat or oil, and were born from the hopes of the people. There was nothing to be insecure about, yet Gyousou knew the child with red-rimmed eyes beside him truly felt he wasn't good enough. Because he couldn't transform and had no shirei?

Although it was taken for granted that a kirin would have innumerable shirei unceasingly protecting them, the shirei really had no purpose unless there was a coup d'etat. Even then, cases of determined usurpers somehow bypassing the hordes of monsters to kill their target were not unheard of. Moreover, shirei never came out in public, so even if Taiki never subdued one shirei in his life no one need ever know. He certainly could not say with certainty that Tairin had shirei; he had always assumed so since she was a kirin but never actually seen one. A kirin's chief responsibility lay not in commanding monster servants, but in advising the king to follow the Way. He saw no fault in Taiki's character, beyond his unfounded insecurity, which could make him unsuited to advise compassion. Certainly he was superior to his withdrawn, proverb quoting predecessor, who had lasted more than a century and a half altogether. Gyousou felt that the root of Taiki's lack of confidence in himself must lay elsewhere, and was still musing on the possibilities when Risai returned with reports of a tracks coming out of a mysterious cave.

A closer examination revealed the tracks coming from the cave were much bigger than Keito's. Since there were not many youjuu bigger than suugu, Gyousou wasn't sure what type of you-creature lived within. In any case, there was no way they could stay in this area hunting suugu unless they first confirmed whether or not there was youma dwelling nearby. Risai took the lead in exploring the cave, and Gyousou followed behind with Taiki in case something happened; since most you-creatures would be active right now he didn't anticipate meeting any in the cave, but it was not impossible or even all that unlikely. However, Gyousou had fought countless youma in his three years as a youjuu hunter and in his long career as a general, and was completely confident he could defeat anything they encountered, especially since another general was present as well.

Taiki, it seemed, was not so certain about the wisdom of exploring the cave. As they walked on far into the downwards, twisting path, even Gyousou had to admit the completely silent, seemingly endless rocky corridor drenched in the smell of rotting flesh was creepy. Taiki, who had been slightly on edge ever since entering the cave, tensed like a wild animal confronted when Risai went to investigate a tunnel hidden in the rocks. "I don't like that place."

Risai and Gyousou looked at each other and communicated with their eyes, the way adults do when a child is being unreasonable.

"I just want to make sure whether anything is inside the cave."

"No! No, don't go over there!" Taiki started to spring forward, but was suddenly blocked by a figure that appeared from the cave shadows, crying,

"You can't go over there!"

"Sanshi!" Gyousou, who had started to draw his sword at the appearance of the part woman part leopard, released his grip when Taiki hugged her. _His nyokai_.

Still slightly confused, Gyousou heard Taiki scream Risai's name and, pivoting, saw Risai's struggling legs pulled by a dark shadow further into the tunnel. A scream immediately echoed from within. Gyousou rushed forward, and his heart sunk at the sight of the impenetrable darkness. Risai's cries had sounded quite deep.

"Gyousou-dono."

The voice brought Gyousou's mind back to his first priority: Taiki. "Sanshi, please take the Kou away from here and ride Keito back to Mt. Hou!"

Taiki, however, ignored them both and leapt into the cave. Gyousou, swearing, raced after him, the nyokai blurring ahead.

_How can such short legs run so fast?!_ Whether it was from the exercise he got running all over Mt. Hou every day, or from some inhuman speed gained from being a kirin, Taiki arrived at the wide opening at the end of the tunnel much before Gyousou, who was fully grown.

_What is THAT?_ Gyousou, who had been to the Yellow Sea six times, had never seen any youma even remotely that size. The shadow fashioned a portion of itself into the shape of a sickle and aimed at Risai. _Transformation._ Gyousou hadn't believed that youma who possessed the ability to transform actually existed.

"Toutetsu!" the nyokai shrieked. Gyousou couldn't believe it. This was the monster that Bakutan had sworn didn't exist. Her words echoed briefly in his head, _Run. Run and hope that your companions behind you are fat enough that it won't pursue__._ But, whether brave or pigheaded, Gyousou was fundamentally not the sort of person capable of that.

Risai's eyelids fluttered open at the dreaded name, "Kou, run away!"

"I can't!"

Gyousou was proud, but prudent; he knew fully well he was not capable of prevailing against _that_ demon. The best he could hope for was buying time for Taiki. Of course, that kind of depended on Taiki actually leaving. "The Kingdom of Tai needs you! You must not die here!"

"I don't want to be the only one to leave. We should all go together!"

Before Gyousou could persuade him, a scream rang out and an enormous sickle was hurtling into him. There was only enough time to raise his sword to blunt the unavoidable onslaught before the impact flung him through the air like a child's ragdoll and crashed him mercilessly into the rocky ground. The world swimming before his vision contained only a giant sickle descending and dim thoughts of _I never thought it would end like this._

The sickle halted about ten feet above him, and froze. The shadow turned towards Taiki, and grew many pairs of haunting red eyes to stare at him. Taiki stared back.

"Sanshi, save Risai-dono!" Taiki's voice was full strain, like he was carrying heavy weights. The thought descended upon Gyousou in a cloud of disbelief, _it's him. He's stopped it!_ The nyokai very unwillingly ferried the bleeding Risai away.

"Gyousou-dono, you should also take this chance to leave here!"

Gyousou took in Taiki's figure: shaking, and already starting to perspire. Was this how kirin subjugated youma? Whatever he was doing looked very strenuous, and Gyousou couldn't imagine he could maintain it for much longer. In Taiki's voice he heard that same worry.

"That is not possible." Taiki had done this desperately to save Gyousou and Risai without a thought for what would happen to himself. If they both left he would doubtlessly think, _good, they're both safe_, and that would be fatal against this foe. Even the massive effort Taiki was exerting to protect Gyousou at the moment was being matched by the demon, if Taiki relaxed the slightest amount he would surely lose this contest of wills.

And thus, drawing himself up from his sprawled position, Gyousou silently sat out of sight while the tiny boy and colossal myth struggled against one another. He had been on many battle fields in his career, and knew the worst part of any battle was watching the enemy arraign themselves against your army and knowing that soon blood would be spilt. He felt that same sensation watching Taiki and the toutetsu, knowing there was nothing he could do but wait, as Taiki protected him. For a general, it was a truly galling feeling.

The longer it went on the more hair on the back of Taiki's head stuck to his scalp, and the bigger the sweat stains in his clothing became. Opposite him, the shadow seemed to be slowly swelling, and more eyes were growing from the darkness.

"Gyousou-dono… you'd better go quickly…" This was Taiki's limit. In a few seconds he'd watch as the energetic, friendly boy was snatched up and eaten.

But Taiki had not yet lost, and what one thinks is one's limit is not necessarily. In this situation there was but one solution, one the Imperial Court had honed in him: lie. Lie and cling to that last shred of hope. "I am very sorry…" pause to let him think he's hesitating to admit this, "I can no longer walk." Taiki's back rose and fell in erratic motions. He was hyperventilating. The pressure was on.

Feeling cruel, but at the same time queasy from visions of Taiki being dragged away, he continued, "I am wounded. I cannot move – I must ask you to save me."

The parts of the darkness that that swelled out before now retracted, and the outer eyes began to blink out until there was just one giant pair remained. Then the blackness shuddered, and, like a flood of water, filled the cavern.

"Submit…" Taiki's still voice was full of iron command. The encompassing darkness shrank, and took countless shapes at the front before Taiki, showing off its extraordinary powers. Finally, it materialized in the dark haze as what appeared to be a bear-sized wolf.

"Kimi koubuku, onmyou wagou, kyukyu nyo ritsuryo! Submit, Gouran!"

Gyousou watched the bear-sized dog shrink into a small one with a tail curled back on itself, perky triangular ears, a brown back and white underbelly that reached up to its nuzzle and down to its legs. The tiny dog, formerly the giant shadow, sat at Taiki's feet. Where there had been a child about to be eaten by a demon there was now a child hugging a cute puppy, who wagged its tail and licked him. He couldn't believe that monster could turn into… that. Gyousou felt this was the weirdest sight he had ever beheld.

Taiki bravely staggered over to Gyousou and, exhausted, folded down next to him, saying with concern, "Where do you hurt? Do you have any broken bones?"

"I… am not hurt anywhere. I'm very sorry… I did not tell you the truth."

Taiki blinked dumbly for a minute, then his eyes widened with enlightenment, "Gyousou-dono…"

"Thank you for saving my life." The child, drenched in sweat and limbs shaking with fatigue, certainly did not look capable of subduing monsters, but then the sweet puppy in his arms didn't look capable of _being_ a monster. Gyousou realized belatedly he'd been treating Taiki as a child, which was only the surface of his being: Taiki was also a kirin, and powerful one. He would never understand that so well as at this moment. Truthfully, it would have been better to realized this obvious fact sooner, and have not gone into the danger that Taiki had sensed, rather than treating it like a child's tantrum.

"No… I should be the one thanking you… Gyousou-dono… you are amazing…"

"Please save that talk for yourself. Really incredible… that Tai Kingdom is protected by so great a kirin."

Gyousou, ignoring the pins and needles accumulated over the hours spent kneeling on rocks, stood up and lifted Taiki, as the was no way he had enough strength to climb the uneven uphill path out of the cave. He was surprised that the combined weight of Taiki and the shirei amounted to what he would have expected of the dog alone. Taiki mistook the surprised look in his eyes and ordered the shirei to hide in his shadow, and immediately his arms were burdened with no more weight than that of a kitten.

After the disastrous encounter with the toutetsu, Gyousou was extremely glad that the uphill climb was completely uneventful. Outside, he noticed with surprise, the sun was setting. He found Hien and Keito still tethered and Hien was particularly upset, having watched his blood drenched mistress be carried off by a leopard ninyou. After calming the tenba, he sternly told Keito he was taking Taiki with him whether he liked it or not, and he forbid him from being the least uncivil to him. Though Keito allowed Taiki the honour of being able to stroke his aloof, condescending head, he thought Keito's uncharacteristic tolerance of Taiki might not extend to letting himself be ridden. He briefly entertain putting Taiki on Hien, but a quick look at Taiki's shaking limbs and ashen face made him discard that idea, which Gyousou was thankful for when he glanced down at Taiki during the ride and realized he had fallen asleep: if he had let him ride alone there would be a kirin splattered somewhere in the Yellow Sea.

When Mt. Hou came into sight and he saw hordes of bright dresses scurrying forward, Gyousou considered for the first time how the nyosen would react. His predictions were not far off.

"Gyousou! What has happened? Taiki…" Teiei was clearly going to be every bit as difficult as he feared.

It was best to cut her off before she built up steam, like the last time. "He's asleep. He is perfectly all right, not a wound on him."

Teiei leaned forward and inspected Taiki carefully, as if determined to find a contradiction. Finally she sighed in relief and muttered grudgingly, "As long as he's all right…"

Teiei took a bit more convincing before she noticed the curious idlers peering at the unconscious kirin, but finally she guided the Taiki bearing Gyousou to the palace. "Now then, what happened exactly?"

When Gyousou had explained that Taiki had spent the whole day subduing a shirei Teiei looked extremely relieved and apologized profusely for baselessly accusing Gyousou. Teiei's reaction to the revelation that it was a Toutetsu confirmed what Gyousou had suspected: no other kirin had ever subjugated one.

The child in his arms looked completely normal; he didn't even have the golden hair most kirin possessed. His personality more closely resembled that of a normal child than Tairin's, and he spoke as if completely unaware that he currently sat at supreme status. This was doubtlessly because until recently he believed himself to be human and understood neither his natural powers nor his own importance. Taiki's face looked uncertain, as if dreaming of being accused of something. As he reluctantly handed the troubled, sleeping child to a nyosen (who won in a rock-paper-scissors fight with several others) at the palace gate, Gyousou dearly hoped this fragile, powerful being would learned just how extraordinary he was.

* * *

/**

*This story follows the book more closely than the anime, so if you've only seen the anime that's why in the last chapter it is some random person Gyousou fights, not what's-his-name who tried to break into Mt. Hou, and in this chapter why Taiki doesn't immediately faint and why Kenrou Shinkun doesn't come.

*Also, if you watch the anime carefully Gyousou says something like 'I can't leave, I've hurt my leg' but once Gouran is subdued he has no problems walking, and in the books it is explicitly stated that he stayed on purpose after the line "I… am not hurt anywhere. I'm very sorry… I did not tell you the truth" which I've taken directly from the translation of the book I found online, along with most of the dialogue for the recent chapters.

**/


	10. Ch10: Resolution

Ch10: Resolution

After that day Taiki remained unconscious for quite some time. According to the nyosen, a side effect of subduing a shirei was the kirin became weak until the stench of a blood soaked youma faded, and in extreme cases with particularly powerful youma sometimes the kirin fell unconscious. As no kirin had ever before successfully subdued a toutetsu, the nyosen were not at all alarmed at Taiki's coma, and were completely unsurprised when he wearily opened his eyes a week later. Everyone except the nyosen had been barred from Houro Palace to allow Taiki to rest, so Gyousou hadn't seen him since he handed him over.

The first day afterwards he had gone about his normal business and kept glancing out the tent flaps thinking there must be something he was forgetting. He couldn't for the life of him think what it was until one of the people passing by commented in disappointment,

"The Kou's not with you today?"

Once he realized that what he was waiting for was Taiki to show up, happily calling his name, Gyousou felt disturbed. There was no reason for Taiki to come visit him every day, so he certainly shouldn't expect it, but now that Taiki was unable to leave Houro Palace Gyousou felt his absence keenly. Once Risai woke up Gyousou went to visit her often and spent much of his time talking with her. Somehow, the topic seemed to wander to Taiki more frequently than Gyousou thought it should have, even considering he was the one acquaintance they had in common that both knew equally well. Finally, Gyousou admitted to himself that he partly went to see Risai to talk about Taiki, because he was missing him.

This, he thought, was dangerous ground. Taiki may be the sweet boy who came to visit every day, but he was also – as the confrontation with Gouran had proved – the holy kirin of Tai Kingdom. And he wouldn't remain a child forever. Kirin are born to choose a ruler and serve at their side for their whole lives, and it was already painfully clear Gyousou had not been chosen. At the next Ankou Day Gyousou would leave Mt. Hou, and the next time he saw Taiki would be when he had chosen a ruler. Once Taiki had a ruler and responsibilities as Saiho he would no longer have the free time to visit the General of the Left every day. Doubtlessly Taiki would always be friendly to Gyousou and might even visit him at times when his schedule was not full, but it would not be the same.

Additionally Gyousou had already noticed, when talking with Risai, every time she shared something Taiki had said to her that he hadn't also shared with Gyousou, even if it was merely an amusing comment one of the nyosen had made, he would feel put out. The knowledge that Risai was visited every day the same as Gyousou was neutral, but the fact that she was visited _first_ irked him, no matter that it was completely irrational. And this was just with another friend! Kirin were completely devoted to their chosen rulers, and whenever he pictured Taiki serving some other person it was extremely distasteful to him. Gyousou knew he couldn't serve whoever was chosen, no matter how qualified they were, without thinking that was _his_ place.

He had never felt this way towards KyouOu, but then KyouOu had been selected before he was born. Even if KyouOu was incompetent, it wasn't like he had been chosen over Gyousou. Gyousou may have longed to become king to set the country right, but there was always the quiet thought in the back of his mind that he would be chosen once the king fell. Confidence or arrogance, call it what you will, but Gyousou had truly believed it. To have the king fall and _not_ be named king meant that when he returned to Tai he would be just as powerless to stop the next king who lost their way, but without the feeling that in the future he might have a chance to correct it. Also, he had been posted outside Tairin's chambers to make sure no one would try to assassinate the dying kirin, and had glimpsed the effects of shitsudou. If Taiki's king caused him to suffer that disease there was no way he could just stand by and watch.

Also, the more he discovered how remarkable Taiki was the more he'd see himself with Taiki beside him as Saiho. He had never particularly thought that having Tairin as an advisor would be pleasant; in fact he had considered it would be a complete drag no matter how necessary it would be, and had carried those feelings toward the miniature, male Tairin he expected to meet on Mt. Hou. But Taiki was as opposite to his predecessor – who was quiet, morose, and aware of the merits of her status – as two members of the same species could be. He had honestly not even thought about what type of person Taiki would be, only assumed Tairin's successor would be like her.

To be presented with such an unexpectedly remarkable kirin was like being shown the contents of the Imperial Treasury (before KyouOu had emptied them, at least) and then being told, "You can't have this, it belongs to the king."

There was absolutely no way to simply return to being a general with that kind of feeling.


	11. Ch11: King

Ch11: King

When he had discovered Taiki – who had just recovered enough to be allowed to roam by the nyosen – standing forlornly outside his packed up camp space Gyousou's resolve to leave was tested. Taiki himself tried his best to shake that resolve with multiple attempts to convince him to stay, or come visit later, and he left feeling keenly Taiki's despondent gaze on his back.

He put on his most normal face so that those who chose to leave early with him – whether for their protection or to try their hand at catching suugu – didn't notice anything amiss, and resolved to forget everything that happened on Mt. Hou as soon as possible. Suugu hunting required being constantly alert, so was the perfect distraction.

Keito, who Gyousou was saddling, suddenly looked to the sky and called from his throat. _Youma?_ But Keito didn't appear to be nervous…

Squinting into the sky where Keito was staring, what he saw blew his mind completely. _So much for forgetting my attachment!_

The obsidian coloured kirin foal shone in the moonlight like his coat had been lacquered, and his silver mane polished.

"What a magnificent kirin." Gyousou realized his mouth was open and quickly shut it, recovering his dignity as a century old general. "What is it, Kou? Have you come especially to see us off?"

Taiki, standing at the top of a nearby crag, began to leap down from boulder to boulder.

Gyousou was struck with a second possible explanation for Taiki's unexpected appearance: since previously Taiki had confided in Gyousou that he was unable to transform, might he not have, upon discovering the method, rushed out to show Gyousou? "From appearances, it looks like you can already transform. I am very happy for you. It really is an unexpected honour to have this rare opportunity to see such a unique sight. It is hard to image that this is the Kou."

"Though you already have shirei now, it is still a bit careless. You should hurry and return to the palace." He couldn't help but be happy to see Taiki's true form, whatever his resolutions were, but three years as a corpse hunter had made Gyousou more than aware of the dangers of the Yellow Sea at night, particularly for someone who had just recently been restricted to bed! However, Taiki still didn't move. "Or is it that...you have come to see me about something?"

Gyousou draped his robe over the kirin, feeling it was very odd speaking to someone who didn't look human. Not that Taiki ever had been human, but when a familiar face peaked out from beneath the travelling cloak Gyousou felt himself soften. He imagined this would probably be the last time he saw that face.

"Gyousou-dono..." Taiki had a very strange look on his face, and knelt down on his knees and – to Gyousou's extreme surprise – kowtowed.

There is no one in this world who does not know what a kirin bowing meant. "I will never abandon you… never disobey your royal command… and I pledge my loyalty to you. This I vow."

His head spun in a million different directions as he tried to process what he had just heard. Wasn't the revelation supposed to come at the first glance of the person? But so much of what he had considered 'fact' about kirin had been thrown out the window in the last few months that Gyousou was not too troubled by the delayed revelation.

"I accept."

Gyousou reached out and helped Taiki up, smiling. This was exactly, exactly what he had wanted! "Let us forgo formalities... Taiki!"

Of course, Gyousou's companions were whispering among themselves, and Gyousou picked up the inconceivably light Taiki, who he now had the status to call by name, and turned to show him to his companions. They had already seen him many times over the course of the shouzan, of course, but this time was different. This time Taiki was _his_ kirin.

Truly, Gyousou had exactly what he wanted.


	12. Ch12: Taiho's Trust

/**

*I honestly planned to have this series go from when Gyousou is a child to when he becomes king, thus ending it at the last chapter, but Nightheart who reviewed every single chapter asked me to write 'the part where Gyousou enlists the aid of En-ou and company to trick his kirin into feeling better'. I still think the story as a whole flows better if it ends right when he becomes king, but it occurred to me the flow isn't too badly interrupted as long as I end it before his official coronation.

*However, I'm not continuing this post-canon, or even post-The Shores of the Maze. I'm like Tom Bombadil: you'd have to get all the free people of Middle-Earth to beg me for me agree. If you can do that I'll write anything you want. If not, might I suggest you ask Frodo?

**/

* * *

Kei Taiho was completely different than how he pictured him.

Not that Gyousou had had any particularly clear expectations of what Kei Taiho would be like, only certainly not monotonous and expressionless. Kouri had once told him he wanted to be exactly like Kei Taiho when he grew up, and Gyousou was currently wishing fervently that it didn't happen.

Mind you, at this point he was desperate enough that if Taiki grew up to be the black haired replica of Kei Taiho he'd take it, as long as it stopped his baffling depression.

The last true smile he'd seen on Taiki's face had been that watery, relieved one on that night they sat together by the camp fire in the Yellow Sea. He sometime after that he seemed to have become anxious and depressed.

The nyosen declared he was probably homesick for Hourai where he was raised, as well as upset at leaving his new home for a strange land. But Gyousou didn't believe that. Taiki had chatted on quite happily about life in Hourai with the same tone he used to talk about the weather, the food, or any inconsequential thing. If he didn't miss the place he had lived for ten years, would he be so attached to Mt. Hou to induce this prolonged silent suffering? His mood more resembled that of when he was fretting about being unable transform or make a youma submit than it did of simple homesickness, but as Taiki could now do both Gyousou was at loss for what could be causing him distress. He'd tried asking Kouri directly and every time had been told "nothing" with a face that clearly said otherwise.

Not the nyosen, Risai, nor anyone in Hakkei Palace had been able to get any other answer out of him. And that's when Gyousou remembered Taiki's wonderful, kind Kei Taiho.

Maybe Kouri's mentor would be able to get him to talk. Maybe another kirin would be easier to open his heart to. Maybe Kei Taiho had some kind of kirin power that let him read the mind of another kirin. Maybe anything! It couldn't hurt, could it?

That's just how desperate Gyousou had become.

Kei Taiho had been talking to Tai Taiho earlier, according to his servants (he made a mental note to review the list of servants again; if they were still so numerous to have spare time to idle around gossiping together clearly his cutbacks were not sufficient), and so Gyousou had sought out the man who was currently staring at him with a blank and unreadable expression.

"… Tai Taiho is… distressed." Gyousou schooled his face so that it did not wear an expression that said _I know that, tell me WHY_. "… I don't understand much about taika, and I don't seem to have explained it very well. I'm going to go consult En Taiho about this matter, since Tai Taiho will probably misunderstand anything I try to tell him."

Gyousou felt this conversation had headed to where he wanted it to go and then overshot by a mile. "What is 'this matter'?"

Keiki hesitated with… was that apprehension? "… He… I think I confused him about what the revelation is. He appears to have responded to the revelation without recognizing it."

Gyousou had no idea what Keiki was talking about and felt a headache coming on. "What?"

"Simply put, the instincts of a kirin will make him select a king regardless of his will. In this case, regardless of whether or not the kirin knows that it is his instincts that are causing him to make the choice."

_Does he always answer questions so vaguely? _"… Could you clarify that?"

"He chose you as the ruler without understanding why he needed to, and is under the impression he received no revelation, because he didn't recognize it as such."

Gyousou was definitely getting a headache. "So am I really the king?"

"Kirin cannot give false vows, even if they don't know it themselves. I'll take my leave now and head to En." And Keiki did leave, and left Gyousou there with his mind reeling.

No one knows what the revelation is except a kirin. Except apparently Taiki, who doesn't know what the revelation is despite being a kirin. And yet he was still able to sense and act on it, but do it without knowing what he was doing? If he transformed and subdued a shirei _in extremis_ when all other times he failed, if the revelation was something similar…

Turning a corridor, Gyousou was brought to the dining hall, where he could see Taiki's slumped outline through the screen. It suddenly struck him that it was exactly the same posture he had assumed when trying to explain to Gyousou why he was afraid of him. So Kouri… all this time…

_Poor Kouri_. No wonder he won't tell anyone.

When Gyousou entered the room Taiki's head swiveled towards him, surveying him with dread. Gyousou smiled at him,

"So did you enjoy chatting with Kei Taiho?"

Taiki sighed in relief, and mumbled something that sounded like an agreement. Gyousou couldn't think of any way to convincingly explain what Kei Taiho said it to the guilt ridden child beside him, so he continued on with the one sided small talk he'd grown accustomed to recently. He spent the next few days sorting out his debt-ridden country while impatiently awaiting Keiki to return from En with advice from the only other taika kirin alive. He was in his office sorting through lists of the imperial tailors, trying to figure out how many were actually necessary and which ones to keep, when he heard Kei Taiho's voice echoing in his hallways, as well as an unknown preteen boy's voice.

"… idiot. What in the world did you tell Taiki anyways?"

"I told him the ruler will have ouki."

"And what did you say ouki is?"

"The will the ruler emanates."

"You moron, no wonder he misunderstood you!"

Gyousou watched in surprise as Keiki entered being chastised severely by a golden haired boy who looked a few years older than Kouri, followed by the lip quivering king of En.

En Taiho turned his scowling, exasperated face to Gyousou. "Well, since Keiki has caused yet _another_ misunderstanding I've graciously come in person to sort out his mistakes and rescue my fellow taika from his misery."

"I do not cause that many misunderstandings!"

Shoryuu grinned. "I guess I just imagined that time when your General of the Center turned up at our borders under the impression he had been sent to collect 200000 peaches."

Enki grimaced. "Or that time where the queen of Kei arrived at our court thinking the head of our tailors had offered her weaving lessons."

"Or that time when…" To Keiki's horror the two leaders of En continued on their tirade of all the misunderstandings they knew of that he had unwittingly caused, which was quite an impressive number for someone who left Mt. Hou two years previously.

Eventually Enki concluded with, "But this is definitely his worst ever. The only way to top getting a kirin to receive the revelation without realizing it would be to get a ruler to accept without realizing it, which even Keiki doesn't suck at communicating enough to do."

"I don't do it on purpose!"

"It doesn't really change the fact that you cause more misunderstandings than a weekly soap opera, does it?" Everyone in the room stared at Enki blankly, and he rolled his eyes. "Let's just talk about how we're going to correct the misunderstanding, ok?"

Gyousou sighed, "Could En Taiho not speak with Kouri, taika to taika?"

"I doubt it would do much good. I only lived in Hourai for four years, most of which I was too young to remember, not to mention this was five hundred years ago. Since I was brought back so young I couldn't sustain human shape and grew up like a regular kirin afterwards, so our circumstances aren't exactly identical here. I can see where the revelation – from Keiki's description – would have confused him, but whatever idea he got from Keiki's rather vague description must be cemented in his mind by now and will mess up whatever I try to tell him."

Keiki looked slightly dejected, and Gyousou said firmly, "Rather than laying the blame, we need to focus on correcting the problem. As words do not appear to be our best recourse, we must consider another method."

Shoryuu mused. "Then wouldn't it be more convincing to show rather than tell? If we could find some proof to show him that he didn't choose wrong…"

Enki snapped his fingers. "That's it! We'll put on a show!" Everyone stared at him and he continued on excitedly, "Don't you see? Kirin can't bow to anyone but their rulers. One of the things that drove my parents absolutely nuts about me was I never bowed to the passing processions of nobles. I actually tried, since at that time I had no idea I was a kirin, but it was completely impossible to bow my head. Since Hourai is completely different now Taiki probably never experienced that, but if we can scare him into thinking he needs to bow and then he finds out he can't…"

"Tell him he needs to bow to the visiting king of En, for instance," interjected Keiki.

"Exactly!" Before anyone could stop him Rokuta dashed into the hallways and yelled, "Hey, call Taiki here! King En wants to see him!"

"Don't just go ahead on your own! You can't do things like this in other people's palaces!"

"Shut up, Shoryuu you moron, like _you_ can talk!"

"Should we not rehearse this deception first?"

"Naw, we'll just improvise."

It occurred to Gyousou that things were spiraling out of his control at an alarming rate, but as they were spiraling in a direction that was beneficial to him it was best to just leave it be. Hopefully. One never could tell with the duo from En.

In the time that it took Taiki's servants to dress him appropriately the four conspirators frantically worked out the outline of their plan – in between Shoryuu and Rokuta fighting. By the time a disconcerted boy dressed in copious amounts of fabric arrived they had pretty much worked out what they would say at the beginning, though none of the details had been finalized.

When Taiki was told that this was King En his eyes widened and he looked nervous as he bowed his head and said, "Um… Nice to meet you."

Gyousou had to school his face to keep its stern expression: clearly they would need to go over the pleasantries a kirin was supposed to offer to a visiting king. When he was sure he was not about to start laughing and looked quite grave and intimidating, he hissed,

"Kouri, you must kowtow." Taiki looked surprised, as even he knew that kirin didn't ever do that to anyone but their own king. "The length of King En's reign is only second to that of King Sou. We cannot treat him the same way as the other rulers."

That was the reason they had finally agreed on to give Taiki, and it was good that he was so trusting because it was ridiculous. But Taiki had fallen marvellously into their trap, and as his body stopped halfway and refused to budge it was time to draw the strings.

The king of En, Gyousou discovered, was a brilliant liar.

"Does the Kirin of Tai Kingdom have something against En?"

"No." Kouri looked at Gyousou with an expression the begged _help me!_ and Gyousou had to force himself to be harsh.

Taiki was panicking now and he looked completely desperate as his muscles strained to kowtow. Gyousou felt sorry for him behind his harsh mask. If Shoryuu also felt sorry for him, you certainly couldn't tell.

"If you can't give me a reason and don't bow to me, then I will take this as a sign of hostility from Tai towards En!"

Poor Taiki tripled his efforts but it was completely in vain; he couldn't bow any more than most people can lick their elbows. If he didn't look so desperate it would have been comic.

King En advanced menacingly towards Taiki and – to Gyousou's horror – started pushing down on his head, "As it is, all you have to do is lower your head. Surely it can't be that hard?"

_He's going to snap Kouri's neck! _This was not part of the plan and he had never agreed to _this_. Gyousou stood up.

Enki got there first. "That's enough!"

Previously Gyousou had no idea that kirin, the incarnation of pacificism, were capable of hitting anyone, much less their masters. But Enki proved otherwise. "How can you do this to a child? Taiki, are you okay?"

Enki and Keiki started fussing over Taiki like he was their baby brother, which Gyousou realized was not far off from the truth. It was sweet to see the scowling kid and stoic man fret so much over the sweat drenched child, who looked extremely confused at the complete turnaround in his situation.

King En commented on it, reminding Enki and Keiki about who had caused Taiki such distress in the first place. As the two golden haired kirin yelled at the foreign king Gyousou said not one word in his defence. Shoryuu deserved this much at least.

Never again would he agree to let the king of En improvise. But at least now the misunderstanding was cleared up. He would forgive Shoryuu. This time.

Taiki left to go explore with his two kirin brethren and Gyousou stayed behind chatting with Shoryuu. They scheduled another duel, since Shoryuu had remembered him from all those years ago, and used this opportunity to re-establish the En-Tai trade routes that had been neglected during the latter half of KyouOu's reign.

Later that night there was a banquet for the foreign dignitaries. Since Gyousou had dismissed well over half the work force it was absolutely nothing like the feast the king of En had attended all those years ago, and Shoryuu was visibly relieved. With no ministers to restrain him he went completely wild and eventually Enki dragged Taiki off, muttering something about not corrupting the minds of children. Gyousou was glad as he had been toying for some time now with how to send Taiki to bed without him feeling like he was being punished. The king of En just laughed drunkenly and called for more wine.

The next morning Keiki excused himself to return to Kei and an envoy of ministers from En arrived. They politely requested they be permitted to escort their monarch and kirin, who apparently had run off without a word, home. The two trouble makers looked resigned (and in Shoryuu's case, very hung over) as they were marched out of Hakkei Palace by their ministers, though not before En Taiho promised to return for a week at Gyousou's coronation and King En groaned in (presumably) agreement.

Gyousou was on his way to continue sorting through the never ending paperwork in his office and wondering when those two ever found the time to do their jobs when…

"Gyousou-sama!" Kouri raced up to him and doubled over panting with a grin that could have split his face. It was a very nostalgic sight that he hadn't seen since Mt. Hou. "Guess what! Guess what! Last night, Rokuta-sempai, En Taiho I mean, he…"

Taiki trotted beside him the whole way chattering on excitedly about all the wonderful things Enki had shown him the night before, and had Gyousou not been so delighted he would have been worried about letting one of En's nefarious duo influence his kirin. He found himself answering a million questions on how the staircase worked, why there was an ocean on the clouds, what the job of that servant over there was, what each room they passed was used for, and so forth. When they arrived at Gyousou's office Taiki perched nearby contentedly examining a bunch of papers, looking much more relaxed than he had seen him in weeks. It put Gyousou in a good mood, and he discovered that maybe he didn't need to fire _quite_ so many people after all. At least not yet. They could hang around for now and if their work ethic didn't improve by the time he found replacements, _then_ he would fire them.

That day the minister who received the layoff list blinked in surprise, and glanced around to see where the rest of the stack had gone. Upon realizing it really was just one sheet of paper today, she burst out sobbing in relief. Recently so many people had been laid off that the remaining capable ministers had their workload tripled by all the projects previously assigned to someone who left, resulting in much stress. When a king is miserable he makes everyone else just as miserable as he is, regardless of whether this is intentional.

The minister in charge of layoffs was the most relieved: she had been pulling all-nighters for four days now trying to finish an alarmingly increasing number of paperwork stacks. She made a giant bonfire out of all her processed papers to celebrate, and other people gave her odd looks as she laughed hysterically and shouted, _Burn! Burn! DIEEEEEEEE!_ Thankfully, most people hadn't been quite as stressed out as that particular minister.

Also thankfully for her, the reductions in the number of servants meant they _didn't_ have time to idle around gossiping, particularly with a coronation to prepare for, otherwise Gyousou might have heard about the affair and replaced her with someone more mentally stable. As it was, Gyousou was left sorting through his own never ending pile of paperwork with a cheerful Kouri working beside him, keeping him sane as he went through extremely depressing reports of the national debt. And thus life at Hakkei Palace was, for a time, peaceful.


End file.
